THE first half at Swindon was a bit of a non-event but the game burst into life as soon as the second half started.

Rhys Healey and Gavin Massey took the individual honours and are setting the standard for our five attacking players. Massey is hitting the heights and has become a vital cog in the wheel because is so reliable and easy to play with.

Healey was running on empty from about the 70th minute, expecting to be replaced, but was encouraged to suck it up and carry on. He dug in and found reserves of energy that he didn’t realise he had, like a boxer completing his first 12 round contest.

The rite of passage will have done him the world of good, and he now knows that he can keep going even when he thinks he has nothing left.

There were no showy thanks for him at the final whistle, but I bet the right words were found on the way home to thank him for his top-quality 90-minute performance.

Moncur and Gilbey are not quite hitting the heights they were a month ago, but they will push on again, or maybe it will be Sammie Szmodics who comes in and makes it happen as he is one of half a dozen players capable of being the heartbeat of the side.

It’s a tricky question how much to rotate the three boys in the middle of the pitch during games because they are all naturally attacking by instinct.

But they all sweat blood for the team and my feeling is that when the three in the middle really click, someone will get a hiding and we will springboard into overdrive. Perhaps tomorrow against Port Vale will be the day.

Watching Chelsea on Sunday at Old Trafford, we were all reminded that defending is about organisation and communication, not individual brilliance.

If we had defended better at Swindon we would have won. Swindon’s playmaker Massimo Luongo was a major handful and talisman striker Michael Smith was allowed too much freedom in our penalty box.

For Swindon’s first goal we had seven defenders in our box, and the keeper, against five attackers, with one on the ball and four who all found space for themselves.

For the second goal we had six defenders against four attackers, and again all Michael Smith had to do was drift into space to receive the ball dead centre near the penalty spot, and score with four players watching him.

Twice more he nearly repeated the feat from similar positions. Space and angles don’t score goals; players do.

While we are all celebrating pulling away from relegation zone after three years struggling to get results, I can’t help thinking about Drey Wright whose season has been bought to an end by a cruel cruciate ligament injury.

Drey had just got fully clear of injury when the injury curse struck in the under-21 game against Sheffield Wednesday.

These days must be the very worst time for him, uncertain, waiting and worrying about the operation, having to put his faith in the surgeon, with the long haul back to fitness ahead of him.

It will be great to see Drey getting back in the spring with a smile on his face, but it must feel like a long slog back for the second time in two years.