NEW recruit Danny Rose was at a loss to explain how Swindon Town let their standards drop so dramatically after his home debut ended in a 1-0 defeat to Crawley Town on Saturday.

Midfielder Rose is one of six new signings made by Swindon boss Richie Wellens in the January transfer window and had his first outing for the club off the bench during the previous 2-1 win at Tranmere Rovers.

However, Town were unable to produce the same level of performance that they had done at Prenton Park against Crawley this weekend as Filipe Morais’ scrappy effort at the end of the first half ultimately proved decisive.

Swindon were unbeaten in three League Two games prior to the visit of Crawley, having also won at Macclesfield Town and drawn at home to leaders Lincoln City, and Rose was left perplexed at the dramatic dip in performance level.

“It is difficult to put our finger on it sometimes,” said Rose, who was again introduced as a substitute at the Energy Check County Ground.

“There have been two great away performances, so we were desperate to keep the run going and be in touching distance of the play-offs.

“This result obviously hinders our progression a little bit.

“As to why, it could be a number of things. The conditions were difficult, but it is not an excuse – it is the same for both teams.

“We didn’t really get going with the ball. We pressed really well in the early stages of the game, but we lacked a little bit of composure all around to really get anything going and get some momentum.

“Because of that, we didn’t create too many chances and of the one or two we did create, we didn’t take them.”

Wellens’ side did have the chance to snatch something from the game when they were awarded a penalty in the closing stages, but Keshi Anderson saw his spot-kick saved by Glenn Morris.

Prior to that, Rose conceded Swindon did not have enough guile to create clear-cut chances to give themselves hope of a comeback.

“We were trying to get back in the game. It was 100 mph out there,” said Rose.

“We changed the formation to create more two-against-ones in the wide areas because they had wing-backs.

“But once we regained possession, we weren’t composed enough to get the ball in the right areas to cause them problems. Because we didn’t do that, we didn’t create enough chances.

“If we got the equaliser, hopefully, we would have had enough time to get another one and maybe nick something.

“But it wasn’t to be. We have to dust ourselves down. If we want to do anything this season we have to start getting some results.”