NATHAN Thompson lamented Swindon Town’s luck after their 1-0 defeat by Doncaster Rovers.

The Town skipper was largely blameless in the defeat and, in the second half, mostly had to watch on as his teammates further up the field squandered a plethora of good chances to equalise.

Thompson took matters into his own hands in the final remnants of the game as he battled fiercely to get on the end of a corner and headed the ball hard and low.

Sadly for him and Town Reece Wabara was stationed on the line and managed to scramble the ball away.

With the failure of that header and Michael Smith’s missed penalty, the captain was left with a feeling that a result on Saturday was simply not in the script.

“When we saw Smudge (Michael Smith) miss a penalty I thought it’s not going to be our day and yeah I’m disappointed to see (my header) cleared off the line. It’s one of those days and we’ll move on,” he said.

“We battered them in places and it’s disappointing that we haven’t picked up the three points.

“I think the result (Doncaster) ground out justifies that sort of (defensive) performance but we know what we’re capable of and it’s the first time since August that we haven’t scored.”

An equaliser would have put Town top for Christmas, but Thompson sought the positives in not assuming League One’s summit, claiming it prompts more sides to try and build a fortress in their penalty box.

“It’s not always the best to be top as you’re there to be shot at,” he added.

“You’re seeing teams will come and set up like (Doncaster) did and try and ground out whatever they can from the game.

“We’re frustrated but we’re third in the league at the end of the day and that’s not to be sniffed at.”

The 23-year-old also shed light on the situation with the County Ground pitch, which played very slowly due to a layer of sand that had been put down.

“I think we prepared for a frosty winter and that hasn’t come,” explained Thompson.

“The sand was there to prevent that and it made it a little bit difficult at times.

“But we know there’s going to be pitches up and down the country that are not going to be ideal and it’s important that we don’t use it as an excuse.”