SWINDON Town’s players were greeted by strong words in the dressing room after falling at the Carling Cup’s first hurdle last night.

After watching his team take the lead through Jon-Paul McGovern’s first of the campaign, only to concede twice in the second half, Danny Wilson told his players in no uncertain way they must improve if they want to build on last season’s impressive finish.

And McGovern says those words will remain resonant as they bid to stop the early rot at Hartlepool on Saturday.

“We had a bit of a meeting and a strong chat and it’s been pointed out that it’s not good enough,” he said.

“We know that ourselves and we can’t wait for Saturday to come around to rectify it.

“You win as a team and you lose as a team, and we’re not performing as a team at the moment, and that’s been made clear to us.”

Both sides were looking to bounce back from opening day defeats in League One, and it was the hosts who started the brighter – playing more fluid and creative football from the first whistle.

After 11 minutes, Paul Caddis gave Town fans a glimpse of what he can offer on the right, breaking away from Mike Cestor and sending a tantalising low cross into the area, but Terrell Forbes did well to get in a block before Charlie Austin can pounce.

Seconds later, the former Celtic man made a similar burst from Jonathan Douglas’ through ball, but again Forbes was equal to the cross with the goal looming for Austin.

As the half dragged on so the match turned somewhat stale, but Town added some spice to proceedings on 35 minutes with McGovern opening his account for the season after a neat move involving David Ball and Michael Rose.

Rose’s throw-in fell to the on-loan Manchester City forward, who beat his man before cutting inside and centring for McGovern to slot home from eight yards out.

With half time looming Swindon should have extended their advantage. But after Austin’s neat flick provided Alan O’Brien with the space to present David Prutton with a glorious opportunity four yards out and unmarked, the former Leeds man could only fire at Jones’ legs.

The Robins continued to make the running in the early exchanges of the second half, but Town required a top class save from Phil Smith to prevent an Orient equaliser in the 57th minute.

Alex Revell hit a thunderous 35-yard half-volley which was destined for the top corner before the ex-Crawley keeper tipped the ball wide at full stretch.

However, with 67 minutes gone, the guests were back on level terms.

Matt Spring slid through Jarvis, and the attacking midfielder smashed past Smith into the roof of the net from 16 yards.

The strike cued pandemonium in the Town defence, and after a scramble in the home box eventually led to a soft free-kick awarded against Douglas on the edge of the area on 73 minutes, Revell slammed home low into the bottom right corner to complete a remarkable six-minute turnaround.

McGovern was happy to get off the mark, but said a win would have been a sweeter tonic.

“It’s nice to get on the scoresheet, it just would have been a lot better to have won the game,” he said.

“Last year our success was based on a team. Everyone mucked in and I think that’s what is missing at the moment in certain areas.

“We need to get on the training pitch, improve for Saturday and prove to people that we’re back to being as good as we were last year.”