TUESDAY night’s thrashing at home to Chelsea U21s has failed to dampen spirits in the Swindon Town camp ahead of today’s trip to Lincoln, according to assistant manager Neil McDonald.

Town conceded on four occasions against Chelsea’s youngsters and were at times completely outplayed during their opening Checkatrade Trophy group stage fixture in midweek.

But the result has failed to quell the good feeling built from last weekend’s remarkable 3-2 home win against Macclesfield Town, in which midfielder Michael Doughty scored a match-winning hat-trick to earn Town three points on opening day.

While McDonald admits his side were beaten by a very good Chelsea team, Phil Brown’s number two highlighted how the team has remained positive in the days afterwards.

He said: “Tuesday’s result hasn’t dampened spirits at all.

“We came up against a very good Chelsea team and the manager made some team changes knowing that some players needed 90 minutes.

“There were certain aspects of the game we were pleased about and certain aspects that we have to improve on and that’s an ongoing process.

“Tuesday’s game was a one-off and it was a fantastic outing for some of the players.

“A few players have been short of match fitness, so it was important for them to get a full 90 minutes under their belt.

“We can certainly do things much better, but I thought Chelsea were excellent.

“We’re disappointed we lost the game, but we can certainly take plenty of positives out of the game.”

One of the biggest plusses was defender Dion Conroy successfully completing another 90 minutes after spending the majority of last season on the sidelines with a knee injury.

Conroy returned to Town’s back four at the same time Olly Lancashire also returned from injury.

With defenders slightly thin on the ground, the pair’s swift return has pleased McDonald – who added: “Dion (Conroy) needed two games on the bounce for his fitness after being out for so long.

“In a way we wanted everyone to get 90 minutes in those first two games. Competition for places might have been a bit stronger had we not lost 4-0.

“But ultimately there’s competition for places all over the pitch which is good to see.

“I’ve enjoyed myself, I think the players have worked very hard over pre-season and have taken a lot of information in and processed it.

“It was too close for comfort on Saturday. We should have been well ahead, but we didn’t take our chances.

“To show resilience and team spirit after falling behind was great to see.”

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