SWINDON Town midfielder Danny Rose said the players did not execute manager Richie Wellens’ tactics well enough on Tuesday as they crashed out of the FA Cup with a 1-0 defeat to Cheltenham Town at the County Ground.

Alex Addai’s powerful strike shortly after half-time spelt the end of Swindon’s brief cup exploits and continued a winless run against the Gloucestershire club that has now reached its eighth game.

Despite controlling possession for healthy periods of the game on Tuesday night, Swindon were unable to generate the slick passing moves they were enjoying in the initial cup fixture where, again, Richie Wellens’ men were the dominant outfit.

Rose said Swindon’s plan was to force Cheltenham to play deeper so that he, Michael Doughty and Jordan Lyden could dictate moves from inside the opposition’s half, but rusty execution prevented that from happening.

Rose said: “They notably play with a really high line, and we played those balls in behind better away from home in terms of getting Jerry (Yates), Jaiyesimi, Kaiyne and the full backs high up the pitch and down the sides of them.

“Then you can play once you’ve put three or four balls down the side of them.

“Straight away, their defensive line is going to go a bit deeper because the last thing a defender wants to do is run back towards their own goal.

“Then the gaps start to open up. We didn’t do that well enough on Tuesday. We tried, but it didn’t happen for us and the gaps weren’t really there for us to play in.

“The little things that were coming off in the first game at Cheltenham didn’t come off for us in the replay.”

The FA Cup defeat means Swindon have now won just one of eight midweek games in all competitions this season.

Rose was at a loss to explain why Town’s record under the lights is so poor and labelled the pattern as ‘just one of those things’.

He said: “It’s difficult to put your finger on why this pattern is happening this season.

“It’s a bit of a monkey on our back if it’s something that’s made of.

“We prepare the same way as we would on a Saturday, we come in for pre-match meals together, we do the meetings in the same way as if it was a Saturday.

“I think it’s just one of those things.”