FULL-BACK Ben Purkiss believes Swindon Town must be more ruthless at home as they bid to break their duck at the County Ground.

Town have picked up just one point from three home matches in League Two, while they also went down to West Ham United U21s in the Checkatrade Trophy.

The last two matches at SN1 have been chastening afternoons for David Flitcroft’s players, with Crawley Town and Barnett inflicting 3-0 and 4-1 defeats respectively.

Town actually started positively in both of those contests as they look to live up to their billing as one of the bigger sides in League Two.

Purkiss understands why opponents might raise their game when they come to the County Ground and, with Stevenage due to arrive in Wiltshire tomorrow, the defender says it is up to Swindon to find a response to that.

“We’ve spoken about being a big team and other teams raising their game but we are doing that for teams at the moment,” said Purkiss.

“If you look at West Ham, I felt like they were nervy for five or 10 minutes and then we gave a goal away through a short back-pass.

“The two teams in the last two games, Crawley and Barnet, I felt they were there for the taking and we let teams get a foothold in the game and they are one or two-nil up and they are thinking, ‘this is nice’ or ‘this pitch is good, we’re really good players’.

“At the start of the game, I feel like we are dominating and I think what we need to do, when we are on top, is firstly, we need to score and then you need to keep that momentum and keep that pressure building.

“That’s one to 11 on the pitch, cutting out the individual mistakes and we can’t keep giving teams starts.”

Although the scorelines have made for disappointing reading, Purkiss does not believe the performances at home so far this term have been total write-offs.

However, the 33-year-old has stressed the importance of striking first but also not collapsing should the opening goal go against Town.

“The way we are starting games is positive and there is a no-fear approach,” said Purkiss.

“There obviously needs to be something where we can’t let the goals we concede affect us.

“We start with a game plan and are obviously executing that game plan well because we are creating chances and I think anyone can see we are on the front foot and looking the team most likely to score and then, just because you concede a goal, you need to reset and remember the game plan.

“Whether it’s psychological, I don’t think so, but you look across all the leagues and you talk about how important the first goal is.”