Swindon interim boss Gavin Gunning branded his side’s first-half display “abysmal” as they went down 2-1 at home to Doncaster.
Goals from Maxime Biamou and Hakeeb Adelakun had Rovers 2-0 in front at the break, with Paul Glatzel’s second-half consolation all the hosts could muster.
Gunning said: “You have got to scratch your head, I mean the first half was abysmal.
“Having spoken to the lads before the game and told them what the meaning of the game was, sometimes it simply doesn’t hit home.
“You have to look at yourself in the mirror and think, ‘How do I get motivated for this?’ How you can’t get up for a League Two game is beyond me if we are starting like that.
“It was just flat and the basics going wrong again. There was no heart, they didn’t run and didn’t land on the second balls, they landed on all of the second balls.
“It is a simple game in League Two, do the basics really well and be successful. If you don’t then you just linger here.
“These are the basics of League Two, don’t think you can just play football and you don’t have to do the dirty side of it.”
The visitors took the lead after 10 minutes as Tom Brewitt made a mess of a long ball, allowing Biamou in behind, and, on the bounce, he rocketed a shot into the top corner.
Swindon had a golden chance to level as Udoka Godwin-Malife showed Jack Senior a clean pair of heels and crossed low across the face of goal, but Aaron Drinan’s diving effort sent the ball over.
Doncaster moved further clear in the 26th minute as George Broadbent slipped the ball into Adelakun in space and he tucked home the second.
Within a minute of the restart Conor McCarthy came up from the back and lofted a cross on to the head of Glatzel to score.
Swindon could have levelled from a corner as Rushian Hepburn-Murphy rose highest, but Thimothee Lo-Tutala clawed his effort off the line as Rovers held out.
Doncaster’s win extended their impressive run to just one defeat in their last nine games and Grant McCann was pleased to see them show both sides of their game.
McCann said: “It’s a good win. There were two very good goals in the first half.
“We knew we were coming up against a Swindon team that would have a reaction from losing on Tuesday night so I am pleased to score early on.
“After they score we had to dig in, we probably haven’t done this enough this season when teams have a spell against us.
“We had to stay strong and defend and track runners and block crosses.
“They scored really early on in the second half which lifted their crowd. I reckon three months ago we would probably end up losing that game.”
Michel delighted with Girona's return to form after injury boosts
Michel puts Girona's rediscovered form down to the energy of the returning players from injury after they thrashed Espanyol in LaLiga on Saturday.
Girona had endured a shaky start to the season but moved up to fifth in the standings on 21 points after a superb home victory featuring a Bojan Miovski brace and goals by Bryan Gil and Ladislav Krejci.
Michel's side have now won their last three LaLiga matches, going on their best such run since between April and May 2024, the last time they recorded three victories on the bounce.
"Today's victory, which is our third [in a row], it's due to the fact we got people back, because we've rested, because we've had a very good week of training and because that energy today was noticeable," Michel told a press conference.
"The only thing I hope is that we continue to recover people, that we continue to have the necessary minutes for everyone and that, as we have very tough games coming up every three days, we need everyone to be at 100%; we'll see if we can achieve this without any problems."
Yaser Asprilla and Krejci, back from injury, combined for the fourth goal, but it was the pairing of Miovski and Gil who made the night with lethal attacks for the second and third goals.
"I am very happy for Miovski, he is a player who gives everything in training," Michel added. "I was worried because he wasn't scoring goals.
"He always tries to do his best for the team, he needs time. I am happy for him.
"Bryan is a very important player for everyone, his best version is yet to come. Right now, the process with him is what we all expect."
Last season's surprise package Girona face Austrian side Sturm Graz in the Champions League on Wednesday and the manager hopes they can repeat Saturday's performance in the European game.
"This is the Girona I want, 100%. We started the game very well, that's the reality," Michel added.
"The first half hour was spectacular, with and without the ball... We had a presence up front. The first half hour is what we want to do this season."
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
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