WOOLERY: WE SHOWED GREAT SPIRIT

KAIYNE WOOLERY scored the winning goal for Swindon Town against Newport County earlier today to mark his return to the first team with a bang. Total Sport Swindon’s Ryan Walker spoke to the striker following the match.

A highly contested game saw Swindon set for a draw against Newport, however, Kaiyne Woolery’s 81st-minute goal was enough to seal the victory for the Robins. 

And when asked for his analysis of the goal, Woolery admitted the opportunity was unexpected.

“To be fair I didn’t think Doughts [Michael Doughty] was going to play me in,” said Woolery.

“He had a chance earlier which he was greedy with and didn’t play me in.

“I wasn’t really expecting it and it seemed like it took ages to take it around the keeper and go in.

“We got the three points which is all that matters,” he said. 

Having not featured for STFC due to injury since October, Woolery’s inclusion in the starting line-up came as welcome news to fans and pundits alike. 

But when questioned about making just his first league start of the season, the striker stated it was a tough match to be involved in.

“It was very tough today,” said Woolery.

“The wind played a big factor today. 

“Obviously Newport had the wind against them in the first half and it pinned them in so we knew what to expect,” he added.

“I thought we dealt with it well and we showed great spirit after they scored.

“They were on top for a period but the boys dug in and we got we deserved in the end,” he said. 
Woolery’s goal secured victory over the Welsh club and handed manager Richie Wellens his third consecutive win in charge. 

And when speaking after the game, Woolery was full of praise for the new manager, giving an insight into his tactics.

“He [Wellens] wanted a bit more pace in the team,” explained Woolery.

“I only trained four sessions before today so I was blowing a bit but he wanted more pace in the side.

“He told me not to worry about tracking back all the time and just use it in bursts and pin the opposition back to create space,” he said. 

“Of course I was a bit surprised [being included in the team] but when the manager asks you to do a job, you can’t say no.

“I’m happy I got through the match and we got the three points.

“He has given us more freedom and wants us to play a bit more than we were before.

“He still wants us to do channel balls and things like that but the shackles are off a bit more.

“Today that suited me when I didn’t have to defend as much and when we did win the ball I was further up the pitch instead of being in the defensive third,” said Woolery.

Taking a maximum nine points from their last three league games has seen Swindon Town rise to 11th in the League Two table, and Woolery insisted that given the high volume of games, the festive period is the best time of the year to climb higher up the table.

“You can’t fault the last three league games,” said the 23-year-old.

“The Christmas period is massive and if we start putting a string of results together then we’ll fly up the table.

“I think before today we were eleven points off second so it just shows how tight the league is.

“If we keep winning then we will keep climbing the table,” he said.