Luke Williams: "People who are successful don't quit"

Swindon Town head coach Luke Williams has issued a rallying cry to his squad after losing 1-0 to Bristol Rovers which was the Robins' third league derby defeat of the season.

Billy Bodin's 29th-minute goal won the bragging rights for Bristol Rovers at the Memorial Stadium on Saturday which brought about boos and anti-ownership chants from the travelling Town faithful, althought not for the first time this season.

Swindon have had a bad run of results throughout this season (losing back-to-back matches four times throughout this campaign) however, by their very nature, derby defeats hurt that much more and all three of the Robins' local rivalries this season domestically have ended without a single point, with just one goal being scored.

Arguably the biggest bugbear for Swindon supporters has been the philosophy of the club to develop young talent, mainly out of non-league and Premier League development squads, which means the squad has only three players above the age of 25 and has led to jibes of a lack of experience, leadership and passion in the ranks.

Town have another derby next weekend, Oxford at home (Sunday), and Williams conceded post-Rovers that scenes may turn ugly if Swindon lose derby number four.

"Yeah, potentially they (fans) will do (turn on us) - they're passionate about the football club and they expect us to win so if we don't they're going to be very unhappy I've got no doubt," he said.

Williams disagreed, however, that his squad lacks passion and/or determination.

"I think the first Oxford derby (a 2-0 defeat), we had two players sent off for trying too hard to make tackles and be overly hyped.

"I think the second (Oxford) derby (in the EFL Trophy), which seems to be conveniently scrubbed off the history we showed tremendous passion and we had a very young squad out, a very young team against a very strong Oxford team that really worked hard and we were able to overcome Oxford on that day and I'm sure we're going to see a team fight for every ball in the derby (next) weekend.

"We are completely aware of what the fans think of us and I can assure you we're trying our hardest to win every single game, whether it's a derby or not, the players are certainly pumped for these games no doubt.

"It's one thing feeling hyped for the game and it's a second thing to be able to out there and walk all over the opposition as if they're not even standing there. Unfortunately it's not as easy as that - the opposition are pumped and they're also full of quality and full of experience, as all teams are.

"They're trying to stop us winning games as much as we're trying to win them.

"The key is to not buckle under pressure and fold or start turning your back on people or try and make things worse than they are, the key is to be strong and try to continue and never quit - they are the people that are ultimately succesful."

Head coach Williams then ventured into the philosophical when he said that his team will never give up as they fight against relegation to League Two for the first time since 2011.

"There's not a single successful person on the planet that hasn't failed, they've all failed and they've all come through and they've tried and tried again.

"The rest pretend and they tell everyone that they could have been someone and they could have done this and they make all the excuses in the world and they end up doing nothing. People who are succesful don't quit. I have full confidence in the group of players in there and we are all very ambitious.

"It's just not as easy as people like to say it is, we just have to keep fighting all the time and if we think and have the same mentality as people would like us to have we are finished, but we're not.

"Unfortunately, or fortunately, whatever way people want to look at it, we are still fighting together, we still trust each other, we work every day and we never turn our back on each other. 

"It's our only chance we have, our only hope we have and it's the only way that, when all is said and done, it's whether we are succesful or not and maintain our status we will be able to sleep and be able to move on and live our life.

"The rest, they will pretend and they will say how they could have done this and done that and say how everyone else is wrong except them but not us - we will stay together."