PAUL Benson admits that the old cliche “after the Lord Mayor’s Show” does have some substance within football, as he and his teammates try to prevent history repeating itself yet again when they travel to Shrewsbury on Saturday.

The Robins have struggled in the league in games immediately after big cup triumphs this season, with the victories over Brighton and Stoke preceding a clumsy goalless draw with Hartlepool and a hiding on the road at Preston.

Having seen off Burnley in the Capital One Cup in midweek, Swindon return to the nitty gritty of League One with a trip to Shropshire this weekend and Benson said Town’s players must work together to prevent their small bout of cup comedowns from becoming an epidemic.

He told the Advertiser: “We’ve got to learn from the experiences and the way we address training over the next few days. When we get in we’ve got to get our heads off winning as soon as possible. “The focus has got to be on Shrewsbury, we’ve got to be as professional as we can and try to block out all the memories and focus solely on getting three points at Shrewsbury.

“It’s disappointing we came off like we did at Stoke and against Brighton and follow-it up with sub-par performances, so we have to hope lightning doesn’t strike for a third time.

“I think (after the Lord Mayor’s Show) does exist. I think you can fester on results too long - whether it be a win or a defeat - so I think the gaffer’s right when he says you’ve got to cancel your last performance.

“It’s how you deal with that as an individual player. Hopefully we’ve learnt from our past two experiences and this time we’ll put in a performance that gets us three points.”