DAVID Flitcroft has stressed the importance of defensive resolve to his Swindon Town squad as they look to return to winning ways in League Two at Luton Town on Saturday.

Town have shipped seven goals across consecutive weekends in back-to-back home defeats against Crawley Town and Barnet and now have the small task of taking on the division’s joint top scorers in the Hatters.

Swindon have enjoyed plenty of success on the road in the league already this season, having won at both Carlisle United and Morecambe, and Flitcroft says being much more robust will be crucial if they are to pull off the same feat at Kenilworth Road.

When asked what had been his key message on the training field this week, Flitcroft said: “That solidity and making sure we are protected.

“Make sure our back four, or back five with the goalkeeper, is protected by the midfield and we don’t leave people isolated and leave people vulnerable.

“We have gone back over some of the work we did against Carlisle and Morecambe and particularly in the pre-season game against Benfica, where we had supreme players playing against us and they couldn’t break us down in the second half.

“It’s been important. I said to the players that we are almost starting at the start again. We have five new players in, they weren’t (at the training camp) in Portugal with us, they didn’t do that work with us and they don’t really know the identity of what it takes to win away from home for Swindon Town.

“We have put that work into them this week and we have had some positive results on the training ground.”

After picking up seven points from their opening three league games, Town’s strong start has been stopped in its tracks over the past fortnight.

Flitcroft says the disappointment of defeat is not a feeling he wants his squad to get used to and is eager to get back to top form as soon as possible.

“Nobody likes getting beaten once never mind twice at home,” said Flitcroft.

“That’s what we have relayed to the players, the importance of stopping that momentum, making sure we come out of it and start building again on the positive start we’ve had.

“We know what we have got to do, the group of players know exactly their responsibility.

“We have got to make sure they carry out the gameplan for 90 minutes.”