DOING the basics right will be pivotal if Swindon Town are to secure their fourth League Two win on the spin this afternoon when travelling north to face inconsistent Grimsby Town, according to manager Richie Wellens.

Fans will have to cast their mind back to February 2016 when Town last completed four back-to-back Football League wins – Colchester, Blackpool, Peterborough and Doncaster were toppled under the management of Luke Williams.

All four of those teams have managed to work their way above Swindon in the Football League ladder since, however Wellens’ hopes of reversing that stat will be helped significantly should three points be secured in Lincolnshire today.

He said: “We have got to make sure we do the basics right and then we have got quality and can score goals.

“Against a lot of teams in this league, we have to defend the second ball.

“The first ball is a long ball into the strikers and most of the time, the striker isn’t going to score from a long ball, but he will score from the bits around the second ball.

“We need to make sure that we are on it in every single game because if we pick up second balls, then we can play.”

A pair of confidence boosting league wins at home (against Stevenage and Newport) have promoted up to 11th in the table, just four points shy of the play-off frame.

Taking Town’s inconsistent away performances into account, Wellens believes his men have scope to improve on regarding their form on the road.

He said: “After the first game (against Carlisle), it was important we got back to form at home quickly.

“I think we are going to be a good team away from home if we set our team up and are in the right positions defensively.

“Oppositions have to attack you at home because otherwise the crowd will get on their back. When teams attack us, I think we will be dangerous on the counter-attack.”