SWINDON Town captain Dion Conroy says his team will not allow themselves to be distracted this weekend ahead of the impending derby against Oxford United on Tuesday.

Before Town attempt to complete a league double over their arch-rivals in midweek, John Sheridan’s men face Accrington Stanley on their travels in League One.

Prior to November’s meeting with the Yellows, much of the talk before several games was about Town’s away day at the Kassam Stadium, yet this time the fixture seems to have gone under the radar somewhat.

And when asked if there has been any talk in the changing room of the upcoming clash, Conroy said with the situation Town find themselves in, the players cannot afford to take their focus away from anything but the upcoming game.

He said: “Honestly, we’re just looking at Accrington because that’s the most important game at the minute.

“We know we need to win tomorrow, and every time we do win it takes a little bit of stress off of us.

“As soon as we’ve played Accrington, we know we’ve got a massive game on Tuesday and all of our attention will be on that. We know we’ve got to win that, but we can’t allow ourselves to get ahead.

“At the minute, it’s just a case of looking at the next game – that’s what all of our minds are focused on. We’re looking forward to Accrington, and we’ll come to Tuesday when that arrives.”

If Conroy lines up against Accrington Stanley on Saturday, it will be the 17th game out of 18 that the former Chelsea defender has featured in since returning from a serious knee injury.

Though he has not always been faultless, the 25-year-old has been pleased with his own progress under his latest boss.

Having had time to settle back into the rhythm of playing football again, Adver Sport asked Conroy if he feels like the same player that left the game 18 months ago.

He said: “I do feel the same player. It’s hard to say how you feel when you come back from a big injury.

“It’s not just the physical side, it’s the mental side as well. I don’t mean being scared of going into tackles, more trying to get your focus on the right things and trying to be in the right positions.

“I couldn’t put my finger on one thing that makes me feel different from last year. Even at the start of my comeback against Gillingham, I thought I played well.

“The schedule has been pretty heavy, so I’m trying to look after myself and improve with each game.”