PLAYING Yeovil the week after their 4-1 mauling at Port Vale, when the travelling fans called for manager Gary Johnson’s head, was probably not ideal.

Johnson made wholesale changes – including a completely different back five – and instilled into his players the need for a performance – and he got it.

They had also done their homework on Swindon. They recognised that keeper Wes Foderingham now plays as an auxiliary outfield player linking with sweeper and captain Nathan Thompson to start most of Town’s play.

And by the simple expedient of denying that pair time on the ball they cut off our normal supply line which resulted in Foderingham having to make hasty clearances into the teeth of a wind.

Johnson loves monster centre backs: he had a couple of them in the year of their surprise promotion to the Championship and having brought in 6’ 7” Ryan Inniss from Crystal Palace in the week he had two more in his starting line-up.

They didn’t give Michael Smith and Jon Obika (too premature a comeback from injury?) a sniff – so Foderingham’s kicks kept coming back.

Only a brilliant late saving tackle by Nathan Thompson on tricky Manchester City loanee Jordy Hiwula and at least two fine saves from Foderingham off Edwards and Hiwula again kept a lacklustre Swindon in the game.

A large Swindon fanbase were left stunned and subdued hoping their team could just stumble to the interval level, but that was scuppered by Hayter’s 34th-minute goal.

A Turnbull back pass which again put Foderingham under unnecessary pressure and a spooned clearance led to the goal. Firstly Hayter spurned the chance to score himself, preferring to give Hiwula a tap-in but he overhit the pass. The attack appeared to have broken down when Swindon let Hiwula thread the ball back to Hayter who this time accepted the gift.

Arguably Hayter should not have been on the field. Booked for a clumsy challenge early in the game he then, just before the goal, hauled back Yaser Kasim as he was chasing back to help the defence but neither ref, two linesmen or the fourth official saw it.

Swindon have a brilliant midfield, a brilliant goalie, average strikers and a young back three that is a work in progress.

When the midfield five goes AWOL as they did in the first half at Huish Park then you are in trouble.

Whether, in the case of Luongo and Kasim, it had something to do with their focus having been on international matches, who knows. Meanwhile, Byrne, so often Swindon’s man of the match lately, had one of those games when nothing went right.

Yeovil were never going to be able to press so aggressively for 90 minutes and, as happens in most second halves the game became more open.

Suddenly it was end-to-end, Wes got the Swindon counter attacks going repeatedly (even if they lacked the normal quality) and half-time sub Andy Williams put in a game-changing display.

Bizarrely, centre back Jack Stephens did what Byrne had failed to do all game – getting past the Yeovil left back – and Williams provided a sweet curling finish into the top corner.

Even losing Nathan Thompson to another red card with 13 minutes to go did not halt Town’s momentum, but they could not fashion the killer goal.

After the first half display, I was happy with a point.

Six points are up for grabs in two very winnable home games against Rochdale and Colchester before an horrendous November sees Town playing four of the other five top teams.

Only after that period will we know where we stand with the new-look Swindon Town.