“DISHEARTENED” Darren Ward was left scratching his head after captaining Swindon Town to a 1-0 defeat at Sheffield United.

The Swindon skipper felt his side matched their opponents and he struggled to come up with a reason why they were unable to make an impression at the right end on the day.

“There was a bit of pressure, as would be expected by a side playing in a stadium like this, and unfortunately we’ve conceded,” he said.

“We felt a little disheartened from this, from not coming away with anything. We’ve got to bounce back and there’s plenty to work on. We’ve got a very young squad – I keep saying it because it is a factor.

“We’re getting there and it does take time. If we are going to push for a bit of a challenge then we are going to need to get it right quick. Today was a day when we walked off scratching our heads and trying to find a reason why we couldn’t beat these, or at least come away with a draw.

“We can’t dwell on it, we can’t keep moaning and groaning, we’ve got no choice.

“It’s a young side. When I was at the age of these players I had nowhere near the experience I have now. It takes a lot of hard work to get into good habits and a few wins would help as well – maybe not through the nicest of performances but a few wins.

“We have to work at it. We have to train hard, work hard, think about it, study it and take it on board. We’ve got a lot of work to do now.”

With a run of four games in 10 days coming up over the Christmas period, most 35-year-olds would be secretly hoping for a breather somewhere along the line but not Ward.

“I love it. I love playing football,” he said. “At one point I’d done a lap of the pitch – I found myself right wing, centre-forward, left wing, left-back and centre-half again. I realise that ‘wow, I’ve just done a lap of the pitch’.

“I feel good and a little different to some other players. My fitness seems to be getting better, which I’m not sad about, I’m very happy about at my age.”