HEAD coach Jody Morris believes Swindon Town were trending in the right direction prior to a “disappointing” performance during the 4-4 draw with Rochdale on Saturday.

Charlie Austin netted his first Swindon hat-trick either side of half-time before becoming the first Town player to net four in a game since Harry McKirdy against Northampton Town in January 2022.

Unfortunately for all Robins concerned, Ian Henderson nodded home a 94th-minute corner to snatch a draw for Dale following goals from Devante Rodney, Danny Lloyd, and Abraham Odoh on a tumultuous afternoon.

As a result of a fourth winless game in a row, Town stay in 11th but are now eight points off the play-off positions with 10 matches remaining.

Morris was fiercely critical of his players’ performance post-match, but asked what encourages the Town boss he will see an upturn in form during the final bank of fixtures, he said: “Periods that we’ve had previously to Saturday.

“The 48 hours before the game were really positive. We showed the lads a really long video on Friday and another long video before the game on Saturday of us off the ball. It was more of a pat on the back to say: “I think we’re doing a lot better” in that aspect.

“That’s what makes this drop off burn even more – I was positive before the game.

“You’re disappointed coming away from Walsall with only a point and you’re disappointed after Carlisle because I felt we deserved more. But coming into Rochdale, there were plenty of positives.”

Town were 2-0 up at the Crown Oil Arena before falling 3-2 behind and then wrestling the lead back through two more Austin goals late on.

Although it was a richly-entertaining game for the 2,611 inside the ground, Morris was frustrated at the lack of quality on show from his team and stated he would have felt the same way even if Town had held on.

“Before the game, I was really pleased,” said Morris.

“I felt we had a little platform of four or five games where we could build on and make progress from.

“But when you serve [the Rochdale performance] up off the back of that positivity – and that includes two games where we’ve dropped points and we’ve conceded late when we were, in my opinion, the better team – it’s disappointing.

“But even if we win that game 4-3 because Charlie gets four and we manage to get away with it, I’d still be standing here saying the exact same things. Even if we were two points better off, that isn’t going to change the way I saw the game.”