PLAYER RATINGS: Swindon Town (1) Plymouth Argyle (3)

Swindon Town lost 3-1 to Plymouth and crashed out of the EFL Trophy, but a strong second-half showing and several good individual performances meant there were positives to take. Total Sport’s Joe Acklam reviews how Swindon’s players fared.

GK- Sol Brynn – 6

He was not helped by some of the defending going on in front of him and didn’t have a chance with the goals. Yet, as Brynn is inclined to do, he made a series of fantastic saves and continued to prove what a good ‘keeper he is.

RB- Remeao Hutton – 7

Scott Lindsey switched up his shape in this one and it really helped Hutton as he was a danger throughout. He is comfortably Swindon’s best player at getting to the beyond their defender and crossing and he even managed to pick out Mo Dabre with a cross in the first-half.

CB- Ciaran Brennan – 6

Brennan has not had the easiest start to his Town career after suffering an early concussion and not getting his place back after it, but this was a solid performance. He was comfortable on the ball and didn’t give it away and made one spectacular recovery challenge, this was a good start to getting back into the team.

CB- Tom Clayton – 5

He was generally solid in his performance, as usual doing everything expected of him and being competent. However, he was turned too easily for the third goal and thus receives an average score.

LB- Reece Devine – 4

You could tell he had been injured. Devine showed flashes of good play with his speed and his passing was usually good, but he generally looked off the pace. His positioning was poor and his composure deserted him at times. He is working his way back so I am inclined to reserve judgement for now.

CM- Ricky Aguiar – 5

I always want to see more from him as he has a lot of talent. His choice and weight of passing is really good and has the best long shots in the squad, but he has a tendency to go missing. Iandolo and him were pushing too high up in the first-half and made it difficult to progress the ball and he was just generally not involved enough.

CM- Saidou Khan – 5

Lindsey said he was his man of the match, but I would disagree. He just isn’t as comfortable in the Louis Reed role and despite making a few really good carries through the Plymouth midfield, he just doesn’t move the ball quickly enough nor does he have the long passing range to play in the holding role.

CM- Ellis Iandolo – 5

Much like Devine, he is just working his way back into fitness and so I wasn’t expecting too much from him. There were times when he looked like himself and received the ball and drove with it to take players out of the game, but it just didn’t happen frequently enough and he struggled to create anything.

RW- Morgan Roberts - 6

I like the look of Roberts. In the first-half no one was finding him, but you could see him consistently making intelligent runs in behind. Then in the second he started being picked out and he looked good. It would have been nice if he got the goal when Callum Burton clawed it off the line, but this was a very good start.

ST- Tyrese Shade – 7

I get the feeling that he struggles more as a lone striker than when he has a partner as his second-half performance was better, but it was beautiful to watch. When he was allowed to roam, he went past players at will and was constantly creating chances that needed to be put away.

LW- Mo Dabre – 4

Dabre is still young but he isn’t ready for the first team yet. His energy is great and he has moments of quality but they were always followed by a poor decision. He would burst past someone and then delay the pass and allow them back to shrug him off the ball. Sending him out on loan again should help him continue to develop.

Subs:

Rushian Hepburn-Murphy – 8

Yes. He has it. Almost instantly electric and could have scored with his first touch and continued on that theme for his whole time on the pitch. No one could keep up with him and he takes on shots whenever he has a sight of goal like all good strikers. When he gets fully fit he is going to be a big asset.

Anton Dworzak – 7

I tweeted this out, but I think that Dworzak is Swindon’s best option as a back-up holding midfielder. His movement is really slick and was always where he needed to be to receive the ball. When he got on the ball he moved it quickly and with purpose and that was great to see.

Harvey Fox – N/A