Striker Robbie Simpson admitted that it was not by choice that he took the role between the sticks in the game against Swindon Town. When Alex Cisak was injured and had to leave the field the Latics had used all of their three substitutes and ther was no obvious goalkeeping replacement, even though Lee Croft occasionally goes in goal during training.
Simpson said, “Sometimes Lee has a go at the end of training for a laugh, but there was nobody else. I was the most senior player on the pitch so it basically fell on my head to make a call. I was thinking may be Croft, Brown or Smith, the latter because of his height but, to be honest, I didn't really trust anyone. Dean Furman and I had a chat decided I should take responsibility and thankfully I didn't have a shot to save.”
“I was very nervous. The first thing I had to do was make a clearance and I never thought I would be so nervous just kicking a ball. I also came out for a corner. I was going to catch it, but thought it would be safer to punch it and I don't know the technique to catch the ball. It was a good opportunity to beat a team which is challenging towards the top and tipped to be up there at the end of the season given the run we had been on. We weren't at it as we have been in previous games. Even in training, we felt good and really confident, but on the day we didn't perform. That is down to us and we must learn from it and hopefully we will be at the races next Saturday at Yeovil which is a big game for us. We are all disappointed and downhearted, but we have to pick ourselves if we want to achieve anything this season.”