SWINDON Town manager John Sheridan admitted he was shocked as to how his team had been beaten 2-0 by Gillingham on Saturday.

The Town manager watched on as his side made an excellent start at Priestfield Stadium before being hit on the counter-attack and going 1-0 down inside the first 20 minutes.

Swindon continued to create plenty of chances, but their downfall came when converting those efforts into shots on target.

Town had 18 shots in total, but only three tested Gills ‘keeper, Jack Bonham throughout the 90 minutes.

The Town boss expressed his delight with how his team played, but conceded they should have been ahead before Vadaine Oliver struck for the hosts.

Sheridan said: “I thought we were excellent – I thought we played really, really well, so I’m a bit shocked as to how I’m going to come out here and explain how we’ve lost the game 2-0.

“It should never have been that, and the scoreline does not reflect on the performance.

“I’m very happy with the way we played and the way we went about our game, and we possibly should have been two or three goals up in the first half.”

Swindon’s domination of the ball continued into the second 45, but as the visitors pressed for a deserved equaliser, Steve Evans’ side hit Town on the break once again late on through Arsenal loanee, Trae Coyle.

Sheridan admitted the game showed both Town’s strengths and vulnerabilities as their tough season in League One continued.

He said: “You’re bang on, that game showed our vulnerability and how we lack a bit of game know-how.

“If I’m looking at the goals, they’ve just come through our naivety and being aware of when to deal with a situation and when to leave it someone else.

“The first goal is being dealt with, then someone who shouldn’t get involved does, and it ends up in the back of the net.

“We were totally dominating the game when they scored their first goal, and I thought we dominated throughout against a very awkward team.”