RICHIE Wellens praised his players’ tactical awareness in the immediate aftermath of Swindon Town’s excellent 2-3 win over Salford City in Manchester on Saturday.

The Town boss dropped his usual 4-4-2 formation and instead played Eoin Doyle, Jerry Yates and Kaiyne Woolery as an attacking three.

Strong support work from midfield trio Michael Doughty, Jordan Lyden and Anthony Grant provided Wellens with the framework he required to dictate all areas of play as Swindon moved to the summit of the League Two table following defeats for promotion rivals Forest Green Rovers and Crewe Alexandra.

Though Adam Rooney put Salford ahead in the game’s opening minutes, Swindon recovered appropriately to be level by half time courtesy of top scorer Eoin Doyle.

Doyle added a second from the penalty spot nine minutes into the second half before Jerry Yates wrapped up Town’s fourth successive League Two win with 12 minutes remaining.

Rooney’s second goal – again from the spot – proved only consolation for City.

“It’s not a great place to come and play football, the pitch is tight and bobbly,” said Wellens.

“We tried to play out in the early parts of the game and Salford put high pressure on.

“It wasn’t a penalty for the first goal – that put us on the back foot. The first time we did what we set out to do – with Doughty on the outside of their midfield player – we scored a goal.

“Every time we passed the ball and got those crisp moves together, we were a real threat. Looking at the team sheet, it was land of the giants for Salford – we knew what was coming.

“Every set play and long throw had to be dealt with, and my centre halves did that well. After we scored our third, we were shocking.

“We were too deep, and Salford could’ve scored three in the last few minutes. If we’re going to get to where we want to go, we should be seeing the game out with the amount of experience in our team.”

Kaiyne Woolery was one player to be quickly praised by Wellens after full time.

The energetic 24-year-old utilised his pace well to make a number of thunderous runs down the right and cause hosts Salford a number of problems.

Woolery stepped in for Diallang Jaiyesimi, who was rested ahead of Tuesday night’s FA Cup first round replay against Cheltenham.

Wellens added: “Teams aren’t going to let you play football, you’ve got to earn the right.

“Lincoln last year were the best team in both boxes, but pretty average in the middle of the pitch.

“Kaiyne (Woolery) was outstanding, and I had Tuesday in mind as well. Diallang Jaiyesimi can’t play two 90 minutes at the moment.

“We couldn’t go 4-4-2 against Salford, we wanted to cover all areas of the pitch and press the ball as high as possible.

“Our system worked well, you wouldn’t have thought our budget would be significantly lower than theirs.”