PLAYER RATINGS: Swindon (0) Crystal Palace U21s (2)

There were plenty of positives for Swindon to take from Tuesday’s EFL Trophy clash with Crystal Palaces U21s, despite their 2-0 defeat. Total Sport’s Joe Acklam gives his views on how the players performed.

GK: Lewis Ward- 3

In many ways it was unfortunate for Ward as he did make a fine stop at the end of the first half, but in conceding the first goal he laid bare the reasons why he is not starting in the league. Ward is simply not comfortable on the ball and he gave John-Kymani Gordon a gift to open the scoring. Truthfully, it was a proper howler.

RCB: Ciaran Brennan- 5

I honestly don’t remember much that Brennan did prior to a dynamic run up the right side mid-way through the second half. Swindon weren’t doing much defending throughout the game and Brennan is tidy if unspectacular in possession.

CB: Mathieu Baudry- 4

The moments of danger that Palace had, particularly in the first half were as a result of Baudry being caught flat footed and allowing runners in behind him. He looked some way off the level he ended last season at.

LCB: Cian Harries- 4

From what I have seen of Harries so far, he is more comfortable in the middle of a back three and looks awkward when he has to engage in wider areas. The two yellows which made up his red card were debateable, but are emblematic of his slightly rash nature.

CDM: Harrison Minturn- 7

Really strong performance from Minturn which makes you wonder if he would be best served on loan or retained as a part of the first team. Scott Lindsey said afterwards that he had never played in midfield before, but you wouldn’t know it, his passing was decisive and accurate and he won the ball back whenever it was near him. I think this experiment could be something to move forward with.

RWB: Remeao Hutton- 6.5

When Hutton gets going, he is like a train running downhill, you aren’t going to stop him. His energy down the right is exceptional, but he really had no one to find in the middle when he got in a position to cross, which meant he was not able to add that extra part to his performance.

CM: Ricky Aguiar- 6.5

In many ways I would like to see Aguiar shoot more often, he strikes the ball so cleanly. There was also a pass he hit in the first half to play in Tyrese Shade where he put on so much fade to make it impossible for the keeper to come out and get it. He has these big moments, but possibly needs to be more involved to take that next step.

CM: Ronan Darcy- 6

He spoke after the match of enjoying being back in the middle and you could see that in his performance. He was very busy and his technical skill is plain to see, he just keeps the ball moving and gets it where it needs to go. However, you just want to see a little bit more creation.

LWB: Mo Dabre- 5

Dabre gives everything that he has to these games and has flashes where you can see his raw talent, but his size is an issue. He got clattered three times within fifteen minutes as even the academy players thought they could use their physicality on him. He needs to find a way of becoming harder to knock off the ball before he can really make an impact on the Swindon first team.

ST: Abu Kanu- 5

I don’t believe Kanu is a natural centre forward, but he had the right instincts, he got into the middle when the ball was in crossing positions, but it is just nearly impossible to pick him out with his size. He put in good effort, but he never had a moment of any real quality.

ST- Tyrese Shade- 8

I think this is about as well as a striker can play without scoring. Shade just looked like he was enjoying himself. He shrugged off defenders at will, roamed the pitch performing flicks and tricks that always seemed to come off and just dominated the evening. His needs to think more about getting into central areas, I remember a corner where he was stood on the edge of the box, but this was the first real time I have seen Shade properly utilise all his gifts.

Subs:

Tom Wynn-Davis- 6

I made a joke on the live blog about Wynn-Davis needing to be the real deal for their to be a goal in this match and in many ways he looked it. His pressing was very intelligent and he seems to have real speed when he won the ball. I don’t believe he had a chance, but everything he did seemed good.

Anton Dworzak- 5

This was a busy performance, he looked like someone wanting to impress and he got around the pitch and produced a few nice passes, but ultimately the game changed when the senior players came off.

George Cowmeadow- 5

I like Cowmeadow as a player and his dribbling looks very strong, he just didn’t get particularly involved after being introduced.

Harvey Fox- N/A

Sonny Hart- N/A (congratulations on becoming what we believe to be Swindon’s youngest ever player).