Ian Holloway ‘not taking anything less’ than automatic promotion for Swindon

Swindon manager Ian Holloway believes his side have automatic promotion firmly in their sights after Junior Hoilett’s stoppage-time goal earned a dramatic 1-0 victory over Tranmere at Prenton Park.

The Robins started brightly, with Marko Marosi forced into an early save to deny Will Wright, while Rovers’ Sol Solomon saw his effort kept out by Connor Ripley.

Darren Oldaker went close midway through the first half, his long-range strike drifting just over, before Tranmere threatened before the break through Charlie Whitaker, who fired narrowly wide.

Swindon continued to press after the interval with Oldaker testing Marosi again and further chances falling to Fletcher Holman and Jamie Knight-Lebel.

At the other end, Billy Blacker and Patrick Brough were both kept out brilliantly by Ripley as the home side pushed for a winner.

Just as it seemed the visitors would have to settle for a point, substitute Hoilett struck deep into stoppage time to snatch a crucial win and keep Swindon firmly in the promotion race.

Holloway, whose team are just three points off the automatic promotion spots, said: “Even if we hadn’t scored I would have been delighted with the performance of the lads.

“I thought Tranmere did really well to try and stop us and did something different, but I know whoever I’ve got on the bench, I’ve got one hell of a chance of hurting teams late on.

“It could have gone either way but I’m delighted it went our way but you’ve just got to keep going until the end.

“We’ve got seven games to go and it’s going to be a rollercoaster ride. We’ll have ups and downs, and I won’t look at other scores.

“It’s all about us now. We have enough points for us to get to our target, which is automatic promotion, I’m not taking anything less than that.

“We’ve got the safety net of the play-offs but I believe we should be aiming for the top three if not the top.”

Tranmere manager Pete Wild, who has seen his side lose two consecutive home games, said: “If we continue to play like that we’ll be fine.

“Everything about us today, the aggression, the tempo, was excellent.

“I thought we defended well, however, one lapse in concentration allowed them to get in.

“I’m frustrated on a lot of levels but I think the lads gave everything for the football club.

“The game should have been dead and buried and we had enough chances to win the game and their goalkeeper has kept them in the game.

“A draw would have been a fair result but to get beat was a real sucker punch.”