The die was cast after just six minutes when Jili Buyabu made the puzzling decision to elbow Jack Thomson when he was about five yards away from the ball.

A football match was instead going to be a training session. An attack-against-defence drill where nothing but a convincing victory would be deemed a success.

This is not quite what played out. Town did a reasonable job of keeping their heads and getting the job done, as The Millers were desperately hoping to grind out a point.

Dazzling, attacking football it was not, but for 87 minutes it was enough. The final three minutes were a Hell all to themselves, and one that can be left to one side unless it becomes a habit.

It feels evident now that Town are not in mortal danger of relegation this year. They can handle the struggling sides comfortably enough and move on. Until recently, I didn’t realise that was a box this club had to check in League Two, so let us do it quickly and hope that nobody notices.

Now that we know that the floor is above the flood lines, it is time to examine the ceiling: can we see the stars? That was the more pressing question of this weekend, and where the cause for concern lies.

Ian Holloway has built a sturdy new system that seems to suit everyone, and, most importantly, unlocks Aaron Drinan, the one sure-fire elite player in this team.

However, Dominic Iorfa, a defender who has spent almost all of his career much higher than this, had one task in mind, and that was to stop Drinan. If the Irishman ran in behind, he was on his heels; if he came short, he went with him; I presume that if he went to relieve himself at half-time, he was there, too.

Aaron Drinan recived very close attention from Rotherham United's Dominic Iorfa (Image: Andy Crook)

Drinan was shut out of the game, so who else was going to win it?

This is where the problem lay, as with the heir locked away in a tower, Swindon did not seem to have a spare to step up and pull the sword from the stone.

Mitch Clark and Dan Butler are good wing-backs, but neither has the consistent game-changing quality of Finley Munroe.

Matty Virtue is not someone who demands the ball and makes things happen; rather, he is a clever player who can bring the best out of others.

The prime candidates for this would seem to be the two Joes: Snowdon and Hungbo.

Joseph Hungbo has the quality to be a star for Swindon Town (Image: Andy Crook)

Snowdon definitely has that kind of technical quality to unlock a door without a key, but he still seems to be finding his legs after spending the majority of 2026 injured. You see the moments when he runs off the back of someone, or threads a pass, but he has not entered the flow state he was in during the first half of last year.

With Hungbo, everyone knows the talent is there to go beyond players and find the postage stamp in the top corner or a teammate's temple, but his own injury struggles have him playing without that sort of confidence at present. Moments like that inch-perfect free kick give you the high to keep going back to him, believing that he can take the pain away more consistently.

Not every team will be able to deal with Drinan like Rotherham did, but if Swindon are going to be a true playoff contender, then he cannot be Plan A, B, C, and D. The ceiling is set by their ability to win in multiple ways, and Saturday was another day that left you questioning how many there are.