Cooper states case for defence

Mark Cooper was left ruing costly defensive errors after his Swindon side twice relinquished the lead in a 2-2 draw against Colchester.

A Michael Smith brace was not enough for the Robins to grab all three points as his strikes were cancelled out by goals from Rhys Healey and Gavin Massey. Three of the four goals came within a crazy six-minute spell just after half-time and Cooper, whose side is battling for a play-offs spot, was not impressed. He said: "We have given away two goals again at home. We should not be having to score three to win a game at home. "We have three 19-year-old defenders and they are going to make mistakes. We have to stick with them, they are learning. "We were 1-0 up at half-time so obviously we had to make sure we start well, not give them anything in the second half. But within a minute or so, it is 1-1. "The second goal, a long ball over the top, catches us out. We have got some work to do with the boys, but it is all we have worked on for the last couple of days." Amari'i Bell escaped down the left and tucked a pass into Smith who opened the scoring from 10 yards out. It took only two minutes of the second half for Healey to haul Colchester level, turning into space in the penalty area and lashing a shot past Wes Foderingham. However, a minute later Massimo Luongo muscled past Sean Clohessy before Smith converted the cross. But in a topsy-turvy spell after the break, the U's quickly equalised when Massey turned the ball home after Swindon should have cleared a cross. Colchester keeper Sam Walker saved well from Nathan Byrne as the hosts chased a winner, but it never arrived. After the rollercoaster afternoon, Colchester boss Tony Humes was delighted with the spirit shown by his side to come back twice. He said: "It was a proper game of football. They controlled possession, we were very patient out of possession and stuck together well. "We had a few chances later on, just to nick it, but we are happy to come here with a good performance and it is a really good point for us. "We wanted to go and take the game to them a little bit more to them second half but they were a bit more open in terms of not playing it back to the goalkeeper and they did not slow the game as much. "It suited us, we caught them on the counter attack on numerous occasions. The character to come back twice and get on level terms is fantastic from the players." Breaking news, transfer gossip, line ups and goal alerts from your football club - delivered direct to your mobile. Sign up for Sky Sports Alerts