ALAN McLoughlin was thrilled at how well his Swindon Town U18s side coped with a hectic schedule after claiming a third win in the space of a week.

Town had to contend with a Friday night fixture instead of their usual Saturday morning slot in their most recent outing away at Bristol Rovers, although that did not prevent them from making it seven wins from eight games in all competitions.

Luke Haines, Jacob Bancroft and Teo Atik were all on target for McLoughlin’s side as they earned a 3-2 success in the Youth Alliance League, having earlier won 2-0 at Gillingham in the cup on Tuesday and 4-0 at home to Cheltenham in the league the Saturday before that.

Manager McLoughlin was pleased to see no signs of fatigue creep into his side’s play and felt they could have beaten Rovers by an even bigger margin.

“I was a little bit concerned because it was three games in six days for the boys but they coped well with it,” said McLoughlin.

“To be fair to both teams, it was a cracking game. It was a good spectacle for the fans and there were quite a few parents there and you could tell from their reaction that it was a really good game, so that is credit to both teams but I think we were worthy winners in the end.

“We dominated in terms of possession and chances created but credit to Bristol Rovers, they stayed in the game, made it difficult for us and had chances themselves, as you would expect.

“Overall I am delighted with the performance, the effort and the commitment.

“We played some good football at times and created some good chances, we just need to be a little bit more clinical and shoot when there are chances to shoot, cross when there is a chance to cross and kill the game off.”

Town’s three quick-fire wins have come shortly after their only defeat of the season – a 2-0 defeat away at Yeovil Town on September 2.

Although, McLoughlin’s feet remain firmly on the ground, how well Swindon’s youngsters are adapting to the rigours of U18s football have left him full of cheer.

“It is a good response but sometimes a pat on the back is not far from a kick up the backside,” said McLoughlin.

“That’s exactly what happened. They have had plenty of pats on the backs and then they had a kick up the backside and now they have been patted on the back again.

“Of course we’re absolutely delighted with how they have taken to what we have tried to implement but we have to take it one game at a time, we’re not getting carried away by it.

“We’re scoring goals for fun so I’d like us to be a bit tighter at the back now but it is development football.”