DAN THE FAN: These days, they are cups of cheer – not fear (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

DAN THE FAN: These days, they are cups of cheer – not fear

2:07pm Thursday 27th September 2012 in Football

“THIS defeat gives us more time to concentrate on the real bread and butter of the league”

As Town fans you might recognise the above sentence – it’s something we heard from many managers over the past number of years.

Success in major cup competitions and Swindon Town have never really gone together recently.

If it wasn’t non-league Stevenage or Histon embarrassing us, it was rivals Oxford, live on the BBC.

But since the Paolo Di Canio era took off last May, cup competitions are now something to be looked forward to.

Di Canio’s record in them is incredible. Since he took charge we’ve now beaten two clubs from the Premier League and four teams from the Championship.

The latest one on Tuesday took us into the fourth round of the Capital One Cup for the first time in 18 years.

Troy Archibald-Henville’s impact was clear to see throughout the 90 minutes. He managed to keep Charlie Austin quiet, a task most Championship centre backs struggle with.

Jay McEveley also had his best game in a Town shirt on Tuesday night, assisting two of the goals and breaking up any threat from Burnley’s right hand side.

But the real star of the past week has been right back Nathan Thompson. He looks like he’ll grow into a top quality right back for Town.

Don’t forget you can follow me on Twitter @danjohnson_stfc.