Robins praise for Scunthorpe

Mark Robins hailed a terrific second-half fightback from his side that condemned Swindon to a third successive away defeat.

The visitors dominated early on and led on the stroke of half-time through a quality finish from striker Michel Smith. But Scunthorpe levelled after 62 minutes when their top marksman Paddy Madden netted his 14th goal of the season, before two goals in three minutes from centre-back Niall Canavan and debutant Dutch striker Kevin Van Veen sealed an excellent 3-1 victory. "That second half performance from us was as good as it gets," purred Robins. "I thought we were magnificent as a team. "In the first half we were guilty of standing off them and dropping too deep in defence. "We needed half-time to get into my players and give them the confidence they needed. "I the second half we got the measure of a Swindon team who I think are the best in this division. "We knew how they would play, but we kept our shape and our discipline well. We restricted them to few really clear chances "We created a lot of chances and could have had more goals, but to be fair our keeper has also made some good saves." Robins saluted his new striker Van Veen, who he has plucked from the second tier of Dutch football. "It is so difficult for a player when they go to another country, but Kevin has settled in really quickly here," said the Scunthorpe boss. "I was delighted for him to get on the scoresheet. I thought he was excellent. And what a cheeky finish - it was one I'm not sure I would have tried in my own playing days!" Swindon boss Mark Cooper was far from pleased after a game he felt his team should have won. "When you dominate a game as much as we have, and create as many chances as we have, you should score more goals," he said. "We needed a second goal. When you don't take your opportunities, you always leave the door open for the other team. "Scunthorpe were able to gamble in the second half and their gamble paid off when hey scored twice from set-pieces. That is disappointing for me. "I don't think there is anything wrong with our performances, I think we are playing well. But we have only scored two goals in our last three away games - games which we have dominated. "We have got to score more goals. And it's not just the strikers. Today our midfielders had chances and our defenders had chances. "But when you come away from home you also need a bit of stability and defensive nous. The manner in which we conceded the three goals was disappointing. "But we have to pick ourselves up and be ready to go again next Saturday."