CRAWLEY boss Richie Barker is confident his new-look side have the firepower to break down a Swindon defence which is currently the meanest in the country.

Keeper Wes Foderingham has kept 15 clean sheets in 28 League One games while Town have only conceded 19 goals, the same number as Premier League champions Manchester City who have played four games less.

Barker believes the Robins’ watertight defence pose as big a threat to his side as their dangerous attack, but has backed his strikers to break Town down.

Barker said: “I am sure everyone has looked at the attacking prowess Swindon have got. They score lots of goals but the statistics show that they are just as good, if not better, defensively.

“Our chances were few and far between when we played them at their place so we know it’s going to be tough.

“But we pride ourselves on being positive and like to go out and attack teams so that is what we will do.

“Sometimes you have got to accept that every now and again you come up against a defence that you can’t break down but I think we are in a better position now in terms of options up front than what we had when we last met.”

The Crawley boss is not expecting winger Matt Ritchie’s departure to weaken the Town side, and knows his players need to be at their best to get anything from the game.

“They have had their issues over the last few weeks which have been well documented but sometimes things like that can pull you together. Even without Matt Ritchie they are going to pose a threat so we will need to be at our very best,” he said.

“But that is the case every week in this division because there is very little between all the teams. If you look at our next four games three of them are against sides in the top six (Swindon, Sheffield United and Doncaster) so we know it is going to be hard.”

Striker Jimmy Spencer continues to be sidelined by a knee injury which has troubled him since joining the Reds on loan from Huddersfield, while Kyle McFadzean is still not fit to return from a virus which has ruled him out since the end of November.