BACKED into a corner, a battered and bruised Swindon Town came out swinging with a plucky and intelligent display at Vale Park but an early sucker punch proved decisive as Luke Williams’ side were edged out on the scorecard.

Whether returning to their parent club upon the expiration of their loan deal or upping sticks for a crack at Austrian football, seven players departed the County Ground in January, although Louis Thompson did make a deadline day return to his boyhood club from Norwich City.

With Queens Park Rangers midfielder Michael Doughty representing Town’s only other addition last month, Williams’ squad was, at some point, undoubtedly set to be tested when put under the strain of injury and in the Midlands on Tuesday night, a trio of crippling blows to players in key positions did exactly that.

Top-scorer Nicky Ajose, as well as central defenders Jordan Turnbull and Raphael Branco, were all ruled out, forcing Williams into fielding an inexperienced and experimental line-up, with Town also only including six players, including 16-year-old Jordan Young, on their substitutes’ bench.

After sustaining a head injury in the weekend’s loss against Barnsley, Ajose was sidelined as Swindon adhered to concussion protocol, whilst Turnbull and Branco were struggling with hamstring and groin problems respectively.

Three days after extending his stay at the County Ground until season’s end, Doughty’s third appearance in a Swindon shirt saw him thrust into an unfamiliar central defensive role alongside skipper Thompson whilst the likes of Jermaine Hylton and Jeremy Balmy were handed starts.

Perhaps next Tuesday, when the emergency loan window opens, can’t come quickly enough.

If Swindon’s Staffordshire assignment didn’t already seem an uphill struggle, then the outlook didn’t look any brighter as Vale took the lead with just six minutes on the clock.

Two white shirts collided at the far post as they attempted to connect with an inswinging corner kick but as they lay prone on the ground, Louis Dodds hooked back into the danger zone from the right of the goal, allowing full-back Carl Dickinson to nod home and make it 1-0.

As Town set about steadying their ship and attempting to find a way back into the game, Fabien Robert and Hylton linked up to feed Bradley Barry down the right flank but Jonathan Obika couldn’t rise high enough to get his resultant header on target, with the Swindon striker nodding high over the bar.

In the 18th minute, the Valiants came within a whisker of doubling their lead as Dodds seized on the ball and motored forward before cracking a stunning looping strike from range, which zipped through the air and left Lawrence Vigouroux stranded as it pinged against the inside of the post.

Vale’s Ajay Leitch-Smith was followed up but the Swindon stopper burst into life after his momentary spell as a helpless spectator and got down well to save with his legs.

Just before the half-hour mark, the visitors finally enjoyed a confidence-boosting spell of possession, which ended with the lively Robert forcing home goalie Jak Alnwick into a scramble as he flashed an effort narrowly wide from just outside the area.

Shortly afterwards, Town created their best opportunity of the night so far as Yaser Kasim dummied over Anton Rodgers’ low pass and Obika controlled the ball before turning and letting fly at goal, only for Alnwick to gather confidently.

As the clock ticked down to half-time, Town belied their mini injury crisis and headed into the break in the ascendancy but still trailing to that early Dickinson header.

Five minutes into the second period, Robert attempted to outdo Dodds in the competition for the most spectacular strike of the evening as he audaciously volleyed goalwards from Barry’s knock inside but the Frenchman’s effort flew well over the Vale crossbar.

But all of a sudden, Swindon were forced to navigate a clutch of hairy moments, with Vigouroux spilling a shot from Kennedy before somehow scrambling the ball behind as Richard Duffy attempted to turn home the rebound.

From the resultant corner, another Vigouorux miscue almost saw the ball fall to Dickinson before Thompson and Doughty, who oozed class all night in his new defensive job, were forced to put in vital challenges to rob possession from Kennedy and Theo Robinson respectively.

Just past the hour mark, Town boss Williams opted to send teenager Young out into the fray, with the skilful midfielder, who turned down a move to Chelsea back in 2011, becoming Swindon’s fourth-youngest debutant of all time.

Young and fellow academy product Lee Marshall flitted about the pitch as Swindon continued to probe and pester the Valiants’ back line, with the wily Robert appearing to carry the visitors’ best chances of turning the dominance into an equaliser.

But despite reams of pressure, they couldn’t find a way to salvage something and late in the game, JJ Hooper caught out Town on the break but he was denied the chance to grab a second goal for Vale as his curling attempt was superbly clawed away by a backpedalling Vigouroux.

On a cold Tuesday night in Stoke, Swindon just about couldn’t do it.