SWINDON Town manager John Sheridan criticised his players for not listening to his instructions and suggested one of the reasons they don’t play at a higher level is because of their inconsistencies in performance.

The Town boss was speaking after a 2-0 defeat to Plymouth Argyle in which his side looked a shadow of the team that recently beat Ipswich Town and drew 2-2 against Charlton Athletic.

A goal either side of half-time for Ryan Lowe’s men was the least the Pilgrims deserved after putting in a thoroughly professional performance full of energy, commitment, and quality – something Town lacked in abundance, according to their manager.

Sheridan admitted the performance both disappointed and worried him before airing his frustrations at his players not heeding the information he gave them.

Asked if the players fully understand the message he is trying to send after a string of erratic performances, Sheridan said: “They’re not Premier League players, are they?

“And that’s one of the reasons they play at this level – the inconsistency. If they were consistent, they would be playing at a higher level.

“Sometimes, you’re just going to get performances like we did against Plymouth, which was very, very poor. You give them information, you tell them things, but they don’t listen.

“Simplicity is genius, but we don’t do the simple things well. We try things that are more difficult than what we should do.

“We’ve got to do the simple things, and we need to do them a lot, lot better.”

Sheridan continued his post-match frustrations by saying his players need to stand up and be counted while the club is in the midst of a relegation battle.

While the 56-year-said he does not worry about the intentions of his squad, Sheridan stressed his team must player better against teams in the bottom half.

He said: “We need leaders on the pitch, we need people who are going to fight for the cause.

“I have got a good dressing room – there’s no one in there that makes me worry they’re not going to fight for the cause. But the performances against Plymouth makes me worry.

“I’ve got to get everyone together, pull them around, and we’ve got to get more performances like Ipswich.

“We’re capable of it, because we’ve gone to Charlton and scored twice, we went to Ipswich and scored three.

“We know we’re capable of it, but we can’t be like a light switch and turn yourself on and off when you feel like it. In those type of games, I expect us to do better.”