Patience key for Cooper

"A lesson in patience for my side" was manager Mark Cooper's assessment of a fourth successive win for Swindon.

The 1-0 victory came late on with substitute Ben Gladwin emerging from the bench to head the winner four minutes from the end of normal time. "I told the boys patience would be the key," Cooper said. "Fleetwood came and put men behind the ball and we just had to wait for gaps to appear. "I thought we were outstanding - a side gradually gaining in maturity. We've previously been naive and still sometimes are, but the more games we play the better we've become. "But we have to keep going. We're picking up quite a few bumps and bruises, but we're out of the cup, so have a couple of weeks to get a few of the injured players repaired." Cooper lavished praise not only on match-winner Gladwin, but also Nathan Thompson, who battled his way through the game before coming off with a ruptured right ankle ligament. "We thought he'd broken his ankle on Tuesday; quite how he played 55 minutes was quite remarkable. It underlines his determination," Cooper said. On matchwinner Gladwin, Cooper said: "He's got the ability to become a top player, especially if he can score goals like that. "To come off the bench and score with a superb header has put down a benchmark and has given me school for thought." Second placed Swindon looked unlikely to break Fleetwood down until Gladwin rose majestically in the box to head an 86th-minute winner from Harry Toffolo's corner. They bossed the game from the outset, but were constantly repelled by a resilient wall of yellow-shirted Fleetwood defenders. Yaser Kasim Jon Obika, Nathan Byrne and Andy Williams all had chances for Swindon, whose ambition almost cost them dear as Fleetwood twice squandered chances to win the match. Mark Paterson ought to have scored in the first half, while Tom Hitchcock blasted a great second half chance over the bar shortly before Gladwin headed Swindon's winner. Visitors boss Graham Alexander was far from downhearted about Fleetwood's performance. "This was our fifth single-goal defeat," he said. "We're talking fine margins. We had the chances to have won, but in games like these have got to score when the opportunities come along. "Swindon are an excellent side, but I didn't think there were too many times in the game when they looked like hurting us. "The players are putting in a fantastic effort from front to back in a brand new environment for us."