SWINDON Town boss Martin Ling and his Walsall counterpart Dean Smith have been mates for years – perhaps that is why they could both describe Town’s 2-1 home win on Tuesday night in such similar terms.

Ling called it "daylight robbery", while Smith’s summary was: “I feel I should get on the phone and call the police and get somebody arrested for this result.”

And you couldn’t but agree.

Fair play to Ling for not trying to paper over the obvious cracks in his side’s performance, despite them now winning their two home games since he took charge.

The gulf in quality perfectly reflected their relative positions in the table – fourth and 20th.

There was as much surprise as joy when Swindon went ahead in the 17th minute through a Jon Obika header.

Obika had a decent, hardworking game, showing some physical presence up front and winning countless headers, if to no avail. If he played like that every week he would always be on the team sheet.

But basically Walsall battered Swindon for much of the game and it was only poor finishing, some fine saves from Lawrence Vigouroux and, yes, some creditable backs-to-the-wall defending by Town, which kept them out.

When they did equalise through the lively Bradshaw on the hour it seemed only a matter of time before they went on to win the game.

As the clock ticked down, the recalled Louis Thompson was announced as man of the match. This was met with some bewilderment in the crowd. He was our best midfielder but that was not saying much with Kasim and Gladwin well off the pace.

And then just before he was about to be substituted for a groin problem, Thompson robbed a Walsall player in midfield, sprinted 20 yards and buried a superb 20-yard shot into the bottom corner. By some way it was the best bit of quality from Swindon all night.

Walsall are three or four seasons into Smith’s vision with quality players like influential midfielder Romaine Sawyers and Rico Henry; Ling has taken over a successful team that was totally dismantled and rebuilt since the play-offs.

And they have been rebuilt with shoddy materials. In no area of the park are we stronger than last season.

Frankly, with the bodies at our disposal, we can no longer play "the Swindon way" with the ball coming out patiently from the back.

The opening ten minutes especially was a horror show of misplaced passes and being caught in possession as defenders tried to be footballers.

With a number of loan players due to go back to their clubs in January – Wes Thomas perhaps earlier if Birmingham’s striker crisis persists – the January loan window and the work of new chief scout Sam Jewell is going to be key.

But until some more gifted personnel are in place Ling may have to abandon "the Swindon way" or face a relegation fight.