JOHN Coleman blamed poor defending and too much time off for an end of season defeat at Swindon Town.

The League Two champions signed off with whimper, conceding three goals without reply at the County Ground, where they had defender Jimmy Dunne dismissed in a double sending off, with Swindon’s James Dunne also red-carded for raising his arms towards his namesake.

Coleman recognised his side’s great achievements this term. But he admitted it would take him a while to get over this afternoon’s defeat.

“We’ve finished the season on an unbelievable low. I feel physically sick,” said the Stanley boss.

“I know we had won the league last week, and when I reflect on the season as a whole we have run ourselves into the ground. But I’ve got to reflect on today first. We were so below the standards we’ve set ourselves and we have to be castigated for it.

“It’s a reminder that if you aren’t at your best you’re going to get punished.

“We didn’t defend properly. After the first goal went in we didn’t recover from that.”

Coleman added they had not prepared as normal for the season finale.

“I’ve given them too much time off, so I’ve got to take a lot of the blame, but I won’t take the blame for the bad defending,” he added. “That’s got to go down to individual errors and lack of motivation that they haven’t been wanting for all season but have been today.

“I feel sorry for the fans who have travelled.”