PAOLO Di Canio believes tomorrow’s game at Hereford will be Swindon’s toughest this year as the Robins travel to Edgar Street looking to pick up three points that could finally send them top of League Two.

Town head into the game brimming with confidence after sweeping aside promotion rivals Southend and Crawley in the last two league games.

However, it can often be the games against sides lower down the standings that prove the most challenging, with the opposition likely to do all they can to prevent Swindon from scoring.

Hereford are just three points above the relegation zone and will be determined to take whatever they can from tomorrow’s game to boost their survival chances.

Consequently, Di Canio accepts that his players may have to endure frustration for lengthy spells of the game, but has backed his side to make the most of their chances and steal victory.

“This will be a tough game because we are playing away from home on a not very good surface against a side who will probably try to play for a point. It will be a physical game and it will be difficult to play our football,” he said.

“This will be the toughest game that we can have at the moment, but my players are ready to accept that we probably won’t be able to play football on the ground for 90 minutes.

“We will likely have to go through a tough moment and suffer a little bit, but at the end of the day if we can keep the ball on the ground as much as we can and create, even if it is just for a moment, our football then we can win the game.”

Di Canio’s players will have an added incentive to beat Hereford tomorrow, with the Bulls having battled to a 3-3 draw at the County Ground earlier this season.

Those three goals were the last Town conceded at home in League Two, and Di Canio admitted that result was an important learning curve that has helped the club to go from strength-to-strength since.

“We fell in a trap already when we played them earlier this season, but maybe that can help my players to make sure they don’t underestimate them,” he added.

“We have already had a bad moment against them so hopefully that can help them, so in this way I am not worried.

“Anything can happen in football but I don’t see a situation where my players play only at 50 per cent and don’t focus the attention, because they have a very big anger to win this league, so I cannot imagine they will underestimate our opponents.

“A lot has changed since that day, we have done fantastically well and we are the best team. If the season started from the Hereford game then we are the best in the league.

“That means we have changed a lot. The fact we improved after the last time we met means we learn from our mistakes.

“There has been an improvement week by week since then and we are far from the team that we were back then.”

Di Canio is able to welcome back Alan Connell for selection, with the striker having recovered from a slight hamstring injury, while Aden Flint still faces a few more weeks on the sidelines as he continues his recovery from a groin injury.

Di Canio could well choose to field the same starting 11 that beat Crawley so emphatically on Tuesday, with the Italian now well-aware of what his strongest squad is.

“Back around the time we last played Hereford I used to say there were always six or seven main played and I rotated the rest,” he said.

“I still change maybe one or two in most games but now I have the confidence that whoever I pick to play can guarantee to me they will play the best football.

“Now it is much easier for me to choose my starting 11.”