Swindon boss Danny Wilson praised former non-league hot shot Charlie Austin after he won his side three points with a 1-0 defeat of Carlisle.
Austin took just three minutes to make a mark on his full Robins debut poaching a chance in the box after the home defence had failed to clear Billy Paynter's cross from the right. Austin turned and drove a low shot past keeper Lenny Pidgeley for what turned out to be the winner in a game where the Cumbrians failed to spark.
Wilson admitted: ``We have tried to wrap him in cotton wool to get him to the tempo you need to play at but over the last two weeks he has been very close and we saw he is instinctive in the box and has a terrific work ethic."
He added: ``Charlie ran himself to a standstill and made it very difficult for the Carlisle centre-backs. Give the boy his due it's easy to forget he was in non-league less than three or four months ago.''
The Swindon manager also praised his side's attitude and said: ``The early goal helped and we looked solid and determined. The defence was immense. We stood our ground and could have ended up with an even better score line.''
Carlisle's ground staff had worked through the night to pump up to eight inches of water off the Brunton Park pitch and get the game on.
A grateful Wilson said: ``Credit to Carlisle. It was a fantastic effort. A lot of teams would just have called the game off. Thankfully from our point of view it went ahead.''
Carlisle manager Greg Abbott pulled no punches when he said: ``That was a real progress breaker. The first half was close to the worst since I have been at the club.''
Abbott blamed the defeat on ``lethargy and low tempo'' and added: ``It's annoying and upsetting that players can go out and be so lacklustre and play with such lack of desire.''
Abbott said: ``We gave ourselves a hill to climb after three minutes. It was a weak piece of play and we got worse after that.''
