SWINDON captain Mike Thompson believes his side still have plenty of positives going into the weekend despite slipping to their sixth consecutive defeat last time out.

Sean Lynn’s side came agonisingly close to ending their losing streak last Saturday but were just unable to overturn that poor form as they lost 32-31 to the Newbury Blues despite holding a late lead in the South West One East contest.

Swindon will be looking to put that right tomorrow when they welcome Gloucester side Old Centralians to Greenbridge Road.

“There was a bit of controversy last week as well - the lads felt a bit hard done by,” said Thompson.

“They were outstanding. We were winning 31-27 but the referee found 12 minutes of extra time when there were no injuries whatsoever. “The players put in a massive effort and they were very tired, it would have been different if we were that little bit fitter.

“The positives from it are that we seemed to be a totally different team to what we were at the end of last year, everyone was fit and ready to go again.

“It was Swindon of old. I can’t take anything away from the lads or their performance.”

Swindon will have to be at their best if they are to end their unwanted streak as they host fifth-placed Old Cents, who are unbeaten in their last three fixtures after beating Royal Wootton Bassett 26-11 last weekend.

“They’re always a tough team. They’re tough up front and they can play with the ball as well,” added the Swindon skipper, who is missing this weekend so scrum-half Connal Knott will take the armband.

“They’re coming to our place so if we can do what we did last week, I am more than confident we can get a result.

“It’s nice to get them back to our place. It’s like your little fortress and having the home support behind you makes that little bit of difference.”

Thompson also believes the next win could result in a change in fortunes for his side.

“When you’re winning all of the time, it becomes a habit, and it is exactly the same when you are coming away with defeats,” he said. “Once we get the win under our belts, that will be the turning point and then we just have to maintain that.

“It is a hard habit to break. It doesn’t matter how how well we are playing, there is always that bit of doubt in your mind “If we can break that habit, it will be good for us moving forward. We need a win so it is important.

“We know we have got it in there. With the talent we’ve got in the side at the moment, we shouldn’t be anywhere near where we are in the league.

“We look at some of the results from the end of 2016 and we were winning the game, it’s only in the last 20 minutes that we just stopped playing rugby.”