TOWN boss Mark Cooper is calling for his defenders to start chipping in with goals to support the work of the front men.

Swindon are the country’s fourth highest-scoring side domestically, netting 43 goals in all competitions, with more than two-thirds of those goals being provided between the interchangeable front trio of Michael Smith, Andy Williams and Jonathan Obika.

Away from the forwards, no other Town player has more than three goals this term, that being Nathan Byrne. 

The only defender to have chipped in is Raphael Branco, who scored against Coventry and also played a big part in the own goal at Gillingham. This is the biggest area of concern for Cooper, who believes his big men need to show more desire when attacking the ball at set-pieces.

“The centre-halves need to start chipping in. (Jordan) Turnbull and (Jack) Stephens are both big lads, they’ve both had opportunities at set-pieces and they need to start weighing with goals,” said the County Ground chief.

“With the centre-backs it’s usually a header from a corner, but that means you have to risk getting a few stitches or a broken nose.

“You have to want to get across people and stick your head in where it hurts to score a goal at a set-piece.

“We do work on set-pieces on a Friday. Like Ben Gladwin’s one the other week (against Fleetwood), we’ve scored off a couple of little different set-pieces that we tried.

“What you have to remember with set-pieces is that there are usually 20 or 18 players in the box, all competing for one ball. So it’s difficult to score from a set-piece and it comes down to your movement or desire to go and get your head on it first before a defender.”

However Cooper was also keen to stress he defenders are not the only ones culpable of being goal-shy. Town’s midfield, as a unit, have netted 14 times but sporadically.

For example Massimo Luongo got his second of the season in last weekend’s win, but his previous strike came back on the opening day.

The Robins manager knows, from their performance in training, those in the midfield have the ability to contribute and wants to see it more in games.

“The wing-backs need to start weighing in with goals. Massimo got one last week but the midfield players need to contribute more,” he added.

“If we can start spreading them around a little bit it will take the pressure off the boys up top, who are scoring regularly.

“They can do it training, they can certainly do it in games but they need to start doing it quickly.”