SWINDON Town head coach Ben Garner said he could be nothing but proud of his team after their penalty shoot-out defeat to Cambridge United in the first round of the League Cup on Tuesday night.

Town made six changes to the side that beat Scunthorpe United 3-1 in League Two on Saturday, but the much-changed visitors were unable to find a way through at the Abbey Stadium.

Following a 90 minutes that ended 0-0 and was particularly lacking in presentable chances, the tie went straight to penalties.

Jack Payne and Harry McKirdy saw their respective spot-kicks saved while Joe Ironside and Sam Smith netted for Mark Bonner’s men.

Louis Reed calmly slotted Town’s only successful penalty, and once George Williams had whipped United’s third into the top corner, Rob Hunt’s wild attempt meant Swindon were dumped out for the eighth season in succession.

Despite the disappointment from the travelling group, head coach Garner said there were plenty of positives to take from the game.

He said: “I’m very proud. There was some great characters out there – Akin Odimayo has had two days training, he’s gone in and got through around 60 minutes.

“Two of the young lads are cramping up with 25 minutes to go but they got through the game – I couldn’t have asked for any more of them.

“They all gave absolutely everything tonight, we had in excess of 60 per cent possession, we got in some great positions.

“We just ran out of legs a little bit at times in that final third, but that’s where we are at the moment.”

The midweek cup tie saw debuts for several new signings including Reed, Ryan East, Romoney Crichlow, Lewis Ward, and Ricky Aguiar.

Garner believes all five made a positive impact and is excited to see what his new-look squad might be capable of given the time to bed in.

Garner said: “I think the performance showed we’ve got some young players who are knocking on the door in terms of breaking into the team.

“We’ve got a little bit of depth there now, we’d still like a little bit more, but some of the play was excellent.

“Some of the times we broke their lines and found people, turned and got at their back four, we just didn’t quite get that final pass right tonight.

“But that will come, I’m sure if we keep working on that it will come."