FIRST team coach Ross Embleton says Swindon Town must learn from their derby day mistakes if they are to haul themselves out of a relegation dog-fight.

While Sunday’s game against Oxford United was built up, the upcoming run of games could prove to be season-defining, with Town facing all four of the teams below them in the drop zone in their next six outings, starting with a trip to Bury this Saturday.

Sunday was a bitter pill to swallow for Town’s staff and fans alike, but Embleton admits there is no time to wallow in self-pity as they look to put things right on the pitch.

“Everybody is hugely disappointed, not only with the fact that we lost to Oxford but the way in which it happened has obviously hurt everybody deeply,” he said.

“We’ve got to make sure that we are capable of lifting (the players) and inspiring them to react and go onto the next game.

“It was important when we had the group together (on Tuesday) that everybody applied themselves appropriately.”

In the wake of Sunday’s second-half capitulation, Town’s management team have spent time trawling back through video footage to pinpoint the mistakes that were made.

With Charlie Colkett, Luke Norris and Nicky Ajose all missing chances to double Town’s advantage, Embleton is looking for a more clinical edge from his side in a bid to quash any hope their opposition may have of getting back into a game should they find themselves leading on the scoreboard again in the coming weeks.

“We’ve learnt a lot,” he added.

“We certainly feel like we started the game well against Oxford.

“We should have been more goals to the good and then that affects the second half and the way that Oxford come out to try and throw everything at us.

“I didn’t think we came out and started the second half particularly well and then from then on, we were under a lot of pressure.

“They got some momentum and we were unable to cope with that onslaught.

“There are a number of ways that we have got to look to try and counteract that from the opposition.

“We know we are always a team that physically, are not as advanced as a lot of our opposition but that can’t be an excuse.

“We’ve got to make sure that we find a way to weather those storms and continue to play the football that we did in the first half.

“There’s lots to continue to look at. We’ve watched the game back and analysed where we felt we have fallen short but that will be ongoing for the rest of the week, as well as preparing when we train to make sure we put those things right.”