Swindon Town 2 v Charlton Athletic 2

Another late goal and another two points dropped against very modest opposition. 

Our failure to kill games off that are there for the taking is becoming a problem and it could cost us dearly come May. Having fallen behind to a well-taken goal from Jayesimi, we fought our way back into the match and after taking the lead on the hour, we really should have put the game to bed but Lee Bowyer went all defensive early and we invited the pressure that typically leads to last minute goals.

Out two scorers were front men Bogle and Anneke but the nature of the goals summed us up. Bogle's goal was a dog's dinner and he didn't know much about it. He was presented with a golden opportunity to score a straightforward goal but he got too close to the keeper and then fell on the ball, somehow knocking it in with a back heel he knew little about. Anneke got what looked like a deflection but they all count. 

For the thousands watching on Valley Pass the real drama started after 67-72 minutes when Bowyer withdrew Forster-Caskey and then Maddison for Purrington and Matthews. With seven defenders on, we defended. Swindon couldn't believe their luck that they were now free to get forward at will and so we all began finger-nail biting as they got closer and the clock ran down. 

Brett Pitman, an historic thorn in our side to my mind (Louis Mendez reckons he has never previously scored against us?), had come on after 62 minutes and I was peering over the top of the sofa when he headed the 90th minute equaliser and rescued a point for the 22nd placed club.

It felt like a defeat and we dropped down to 7th in the table. It's rare that we have a good Christmas, so news that Peterborough have cancelled the match on 29th might be good news although we are beginning to build up a backlog of games which rarely translate into the points you hoped for. 

A new striker can't come soon enough and the jungle drums are saying Ronnie Schwartz is in the building. Hopefully we can announce him on the opening day of the window and get him up-to-speed quickly. He must surely step in for the hapless Omar Bogle whose poor return is entirely in line with what you would expect looking at his less-than-impressive track record at lesser clubs than oursleves.

I think we also need to give consideration to our central defensive situation. Ideally Inniss and Famewo would stay on loan but we can't be sure of that. having been taken apart by Liverpool yesterday, Roy Hodgson might well be looking at his defensive options in terms of recalling Inniss, although with him still some way off returning from injury who knows? Norwich are riding high at the top of the Championship, so Famewo has more chance of extending his loan but he too will still be missing for a number of games yet. Lee Bowyer may decide he can't rely on Pratley Pearce possibly for the remainder of the season and might be asking for a new centre-half.

The question on any incomings, of course, is juggling the wage bill under the salary cap. Levitt is likely to return o man United with his tail between his legs but we may need to move others on. I'd give Bogle a piggy-back to Carlise if it moved him on but he's hardly hot property. Expect a few more to go out on loan.