ONE week into the 2018/19 League Two campaign, Town’s record reads as one win, two defeats in three games with 10 goals conceded.

Everyone knows that is less than ideal, especially when you factor in the club’s ambition to be promoted by the end of the campaign.

Tuesday night’s Checkatrade Trophy defeat to Chelsea U21s was more of an exercise for Phil Brown, as opposed to a full-on competitive fixture.

The Swindon boss used the game to get minutes into players who lacked fitness against a very polished set of youngsters.

However, their test against Lincoln City was more of a yardstick to see how his new-look outfit could compete against one of the league’s toughest outfits.

Last time they visited Sincil Bank, it was the Imps who snatched a point as goalkeeper Reice Charles Cook fumbled a late corner, completing a late comeback from the hosts to draw 2-2.

From that game in February, only four players remained - Olly Lancashire, Matty Taylor, Keshi Anderson and Ellis Iandolo all surviving the summer exodus.

Pre-match, Brown was scratching his head over selection with Kyle Knoyle picking up a hamstring injury in the club’s 4-0 defeat to Chelsea.

However, the defender soothed his manager’s problems as he was named in the starting XI, the Swindon boss reverting to the same team who were 3-2 winners against Macclesfield Town seven days earlier.

New signing Sid Nelson was handed a place on the bench after the Millwall loanee made his debut on Tuesday.

After a cautious start, Town found themselves behind for the third time in a week when John Akinde sent Lawrence Vigouroux the wrong way from the penalty spot.

Anderson was guilty of bringing namesake Harry Anderson down in the box, forcing Michael Salisbury to point to the spot with nine minutes on the clock.

Just before the 20-minute mark Town were two goals behind after poor defending from a corner kick.

Imps skipper Lee Frecklington was afforded far too much time and space, his header was cleared off the line from Martin Smith but the rebound was tucked away at the second time of asking by Michael Bostwick.

Bostwick was the man who had grabbed Lincoln’s equaliser when the two teams met at the tail end of last season.

With five minutes of the first half remaining, Swindon began to finally get into their groove as Michael Doughty picked out Elijah Adebayo, but the tall striker couldn’t poke past Josh Vickers.

As Town continued to pressure, they were awarded a penalty after Matty Taylor’s long-range strike appeared to have been handled.

Doughty was the man given the responsibility of getting his side back in the game, and that is what he did as he put the ball down the middle of the net to score - his fourth goal in two games since returning.

The second half got off to a pedestrian start as the visitors looked to get back on terms for the first time since going behind.

Doughty again did well on several occasions by bringing the ball out with some determined running, but failed to make it count after blasting over on two occasions.

Ten minutes after the restart Vigouroux called into action again as he tipped a fierce drive from Neal Ardley round the post, a quick reminder of the threat posed by Danny Cowley’s well-drilled home side.

In a bid to breathe some life into his side, Brown opted to bring on Scott Twine and Jak McCourt at the expense of Steven Alzate and Smith in the 68th minute.

But with just over 10 minutes to go, more defensive frailties arose for Town as Harry Toffolo was able to put the ball past Vigouroux after a long ball into the box.

Just as things were looking bad for the visitors, Lincoln further stretched their lead as substitute Matt Green made the most of a defensive mix-up.

Skipper Lancashire thought the striker was offside as the ball looped over his head, but the linesmen kept his flag down, giving Green all the time in the world to slot home and round off a comfortable win for the home side.

Defensively, Town were deplorable and many of the 491 travelling fans made their feelings known by walking out of the stadium when the hosts crashed home their third of the afternoon.

Overall, Town looked more than capable of opening up the home side, but lacked the know-how Lincoln clearly had in abundance.

Adebayo was well marshalled, and Town’s midfield was often swamped by a determined and dogged team.

Throughout pre-season Brown said he needed to implement a ‘clean sheet mentality’ into his players.

Given their record thus far, that may be his hardest task this season.

With nine new arrivals there is plenty still to see from his team, as they continue to grow into the campaign.

Add to that a return to fitness for striker Marc Richards, Toumani Diagouraga, Chris Robertson and Kaiyne Woolery, things may be slightly different with more experience around a young side.

Swindon have no time to dither in their recovery, and while some people may see the Carabao Cup as a distraction, Tuesday night’s clash with Forest Green Rovers carries a bit more significance now as Brown looks to get his troops moving again.