Swindon assistant manager Marcus Bignot said Chesterfield counterpart Paul Cook would put in a word for home boss Ian Holloway after his sending off during Saturday’s 1-0 League Two win at the County Ground.
Kabongo Tshimanga grabbed Swindon’s winner against his old club in a game marred by Holloway’s red card and fears over a serious injury to Chesterfield defender Tyrone Williams.
Striker Tshimanga was fouled in a clumsy attempted clearance by goalkeeper Ryan Boot in the 61st minute and stepped up to fire the resulting penalty home to edge a scrappy encounter.
And Town are hoping to have Holloway’s red card rescinded after claiming referee Charles Breakspear misheard him before the ninth-minute dismissal.
Assistant boss Bignot said: “Fingers crossed common sense prevails in terms of the gaffer. There was an incident in front of the touchline with Ollie Clarke and their left-back.
“The referee has taken it that his comments were aimed at him.
“Paul Cook – and credit to him – will go on record to say the comments the referee believed were said were certainly not said and were certainly not said to him.”
Cook refused to talk to the media after the game, citing concern for Williams, who was injured in a clash with his goalkeeper Boot.
Both sets of players showed immediate concern and urged the physios to come on. It led to an 11-minute delay when the injured defender, 30, was treated before being carried off on a stretcher. But the severity and nature of the injury was unclear.
The injury and strong wind disrupted the flow of the game in the first half. Harry Smith had a deflected effort smothered by Boot, while his far-post header went wide.
Just before the break, Dylan Duffy’s inswinging free-kick was well saved by Connor Ripley.
Swindon improved in the second half. Miguel Freckleton went close with a header from Will Wright’s corner before Clarke’s effort was cleared off the line.
Smith should have notched from a corner but got his angles wrong, but thankfully Tshimanga put away the spot-kick moments later.
And Smith looked odds on to double the lead when he was sent through on goal but dithered and the chance was snuffed out by a recovering defender.
After the game, Bignot praised his players for managing the conditions better than the opponents.
He said: “Connor is renowned for his kicking and the distance he gets on it….just couldn’t get any distance.
“We were literally just camped in our half. But saying that, we defended really well. I don’t think they opened us up in that period.
“Today, we never made many mistakes and the game’s all about mistakes. And when you see the goal, it was an error we’ve forced and we’ve capitalized.
“So we’re delighted overall on how we played the conditions and how the game panned out.”
