LET’S put this one to bed and move on quickly shall we, it is still early days after all.

As much as we should not get too carried away by Swindon Town’s encouraging first week of the new season, which saw them beat Coventry City at home on the opening day and follow it up with a spirited midweek display at Queens Park Rangers in the EFL Cup, which only ended in an agonising penalty shoot-out defeat to the Championship side, nor should we overreact to this first league defeat in a chastising loss at Chesterfield.

Sure, Swindon were all at sea against the Spireites as they gift-wrapped former manager Danny Wilson a memorable win over his old side, and current head coach Luke Williams’ post-match assessment of a ‘pathetic’ performance was as damning as it was true, but those previous displays should prove it is not all doom and gloom already for 2016/17.

It cannot be denied that this was a forgettable outing for Town and one they will want to forget quickly at that.

The Spireites could have been out of sight in a dominant opening 45 minutes at the Proact Stadium and a header from skipper Gary Liddle and Jay O’Shea’s stoppage time penalty put them two goals to the good at the break before Ched Evans, who was a handful for the visiting defence all afternoon, got the goal his performance deserved with their third midway through the second half.

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Just one of many fine saves by Town goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux during the defeat to Chesterfield

Town offered little as an attacking threat throughout the 90 minutes but were able to grab a late consolation through debutant Darnell Furlong, who notched just 24 hours after joining on a season-long loan from QPR, although in truth, that was more than the visitors deserved.

However, one bad result – albeit very bad – should not overshadow two good ones and although the fact that the Town squad still looks threadbare at present is a big worry, Williams does not need to come up with a whole new tactical blueprint altogether.

Goal scorer Furlong actually had to settle for making his Town debut off the bench after only being named amongst the substitutes by Williams, who made three changes to the side that had pushed QPR all the way in midweek.

On-loan Liverpool defender Lloyd Jones was not fit to travel after limping off before extra time at Loftus Road, with Conor Thomas dropping back from midfield into the three-man defence alongside skipper Nathan Thompson and Jamie Sendles-White.

His place in the middle of the park was taken by the returning Michael Doughty, who was not allowed to feature in midweek against his parent club, while James Brophy was relegated to the bench despite finding the net at Rangers, with Brandon Ormonde-Ottewill selected at left wing-back after missing the opening two games through a suspension hanging over from last year.

With Jonathan Obika still ruled out with a groin injury, youngster Jordan Young was the other change in the XI, chosen as the chief support to Luke Norris in attack at the expense of Jermaine Hylton.

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Gary Liddle heads Chesterfield into the lead at the Proact Stadium

Chesterfield were in the ascendancy from the kick-off and O’Shea and Evans had already had sniffs of the target before a piece of brilliance from Town keeper Lawrence Vigouroux prevented his side falling behind inside five minutes.

Dan Gardner’s cross found Evans in the box but Vigouroux was able to tip the former Wales international striker’s effort onto the post before gratefully gathering the ball as it rolled back across the goalline.

Evans scuffed another effort on the turn wide before Town had their only true sight of goal of the first half, although it actually ended up setting them back. Brad Barry’s low cross was met by Norris at the near post but he could not get enough on it under pressure from Sam Hird and keeper Ryan Fulton easily gathered as the ball trickled towards him.

Norris was left in a heap on the floor as a result of the heavy challenge and he immediately beckoned to the bench for treatment. Although the Town striker battled on gamely for five minutes, he could not run off the injury and the visitors were forced into a change inside the opening quarter as Hylton came on in his place.

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Luke Norris feels the full force of Chesterfield’s Sam Hird, a challenge that forced the Town new boy off injured after only 21 minutes at the Proact Stadium

That was the onset of a double blow for Town as Chesterfield took the lead almost immediately after the substitution despite more heroics from Vigouroux between the sticks.

The Town stopper tipped a dipping Evans free-kick onto the crossbar and then brilliantly got up to deny Hird on the follow-up but the visiting defenders failed to react as the ball looped up nicely for Spireites skipper Liddle to head home.

Swindon were grateful to Vigouroux for preventing them from falling further behind as he tipped an O’Shea strike around the post before then staying big to deny Gardner, who had collected a low Paul McGinn cross before turning inside Barry to fire in an effort.

Gboly Ariyibi then fired over the top after Barry could only half clear a Liddle cross before home keeper Fulton was called into meaningful action for the first time, although it was only to catch an offside Town effort.

Yaser Kasim looped a lovely ball over the top for Hylton to latch onto and the substitute cracked a decent first-time effort straight at Fulton but only after he had set off on his forward run a fraction too soon.

That was as good as it got for Swindon and the second goal the hosts’ earlier play had deserved did arrive before the break, courtesy of a soft penalty in first-half stoppage time.

Kasim was booked for a naughty trip on Ariyibi and Town skipper Thompson needlessly pushed Evans on the far edge of the box as he span away to latch onto the free-kick. Evans went down and referee Carl Boyeson pointed to the spot, with O’Shea coolly planting into the bottom corner, past the dive of Vigouroux.

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Vigouroux was unable to stop Jay O’Shea’s penalty for Chesterfield’s second goal of the match

The match entered a lull after the restart and Williams rang the changes, introducing Furlong for his debut and Jordan Stewart in attack in an effort to gain some momentum but Chesterfield remained in control.

Ariyibi terrorised Ormonde-Ottewill with a twisting, turning run up the right and into the box before firing across goal and Evans was on hand to step in and tuck the ball over the line at the back post.

Town did get a few sights of goal as the match drew to a close, the best falling to Kasim as he collected Hylton’s cutback on the edge of the box but the Iraqi international blazed well over the bar.

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Debutant Darnell Furlong turns away after scoring Town’s only goal

The visitors were able to return to Wiltshire with at least a goal to show for their efforts in the dying minutes as Furlong marked his debut by firing home a late consolation but it did little to gloss over what was overall a turgid Town performance.