SWINDON Town manager Richie Wellens admits the lacklustre nature of his side’s performance in defeat at home to Crawley Town on Saturday was a total bolt from the blue.

A Town display devoid of any real creative nous resulted in a 1-0 defeat to the Red Devils after a low-quality encounter at the Energy Check County Ground.

That came after an encouraging 2-1 win away at Tranmere Rovers a week earlier, with Town having put together a three-match unbeaten streak in League Two after also winning at Macclesfield Town and drawing at home to Lincoln City.

Wellens was at pains to criticise his players too much due to recent positive performances, but also refused to brush over the fact the effort against Crawley was not up to standard.

“I don’t want to have a go at the players too much because they have been really, really good and this performance has come a little bit out of the blue in terms of our quality on the ball, but there’s no hiding from it, it was poor – really, really poor,” said Wellens.

“We had so many opportunities to play one-touch football, but we didn’t. We took three touches and got closed down – we gave Crawley belief.

“Every time a player takes three or four touches, it gives the opposition more belief to press us and stay in the game.

“If we take one touch and pop it around the corner to a team-mate and he plays it out wide, the opposition can’t cover that and it gives them disbelief.

“They think they can’t get near us and have to drop so the gaps become bigger.

“But we just didn’t do that. There were far too many touches and far too many wrong decisions.”

During his post-match media duties against Crawley, Wellens was made aware of questions from supporters regarding his decision to withdraw midfielder Michael Doughty early in the second half.

Although keen to involve his top scorer as much as possible, Wellens says Doughty is one of a number of Town players who cannot let their standards drop.

“I want to play Doughts, I think he is a very talented player, but if I play him number 10 it’s for a reason – to get him on the ball and be creative,” said Wellens.

“If he is not being creative, you have to ask questions as a manager.

“Doughts needs to up his game – as do two or three more.

“He is a player I like and a player I want to see in the team, but there has to be a certain performance level reached to warrant being on the pitch.”