Jody Morris praised Swindon’s spirit as they came from behind to beat Salford 2-1 and give him his first win as Robins’ boss.
The former Chelsea coach ended his three-match losing streak as Swindon secured their first victory of the year in Sky Bet League Two.
Ryan Watson secured the hosts a dream start when he opened the scoring with less than four minutes on the clock.
But the visiting Robins responded positively and levelled through Jacob Wakeling’s acrobatic effort.
Matt Smith twice struck the woodwork in quick succession as Salford tried to reclaim the lead but Swindon won it when Elliot Watt inadvertently converted a Ronan Darcy cutback into his own net.
Morris said: “I’m pleased for the players and for the fans who again came out in their numbers.
“I would have liked to have given them a little bit more from a performance aspect but I’m pleased with how we took responsibility in defensive areas.
“It’s really pleasing to get the win. The players dug in and we dealt with it a lot better in both boxes.
“Their spirit was really pleasing. Everyone was digging in deep and even the subs were shouting on from the bench to help their team-mates.
“The group looked together and you can see that at the end of a win where you’ve had to dig deep at a tough place to come.
“There’s still so many things to work on where we need to improve, but we’ve not had any luck in the first three games, so we’ll take a bit of good fortune.”
Meanwhile, Salford’s wastefulness proved costly as they suffered a first defeat at Moor Lane in eight games dating back to November.
Boss Neil Wood said: “It’s really frustrating, we were the better team and to face one shot on target and come away with a defeat is deflating.
“This is an ambitious group, so naturally they’re down and we’ll have to get the spirits back up now.
“We’re getting punished for the one mistake we make. It feels like we’ve not quite got that cutting edge when they do it, so it’s frustrating.
“It’s going to be a roller coaster all season; it’s difficult to get consistency and I don’t think any team has.
“We’ve just got to put mini-runs together now; we don’t get too high or too low after a result.
“I’m learning all the time and it’s been important for me to adapt. We’ve been through a sticky patch and there’s been lessons all the way.
“I’ve been enjoying every minute of it so far, it’s just frustrating on days like today where you feel like you should get more out of the game.”
