SWINDON Town defender Tom Broadbent said the fact another individual mistake led directly to a goal was “a kick in the teeth” for the team following the club’s 1-0 defeat to Lincoln City on Tuesday night.

Goalkeeper Matej Kovar failed to confidently come out and claim a floated corner in the 75th minute while Broadbent himself was not free of blame after being guilty of ball-watching before Lincoln’s Lewis Montsma headed towards goal.

Manchester United loanee, Kovar arguably carried the ball over the line anyway following the header, and all of Swindon’s astute defensive work on the night was undone in one foul swoop.

Analysing the team’s performance afterwards, Broadbent revealed he felt deflated after putting in so much hard work, but said Town must take the many positives into Saturday’s derby against Oxford United.

Broadbent said: “I pride myself on clean sheets, so I’m disappointed we couldn’t get one against Lincoln. We need to cut out those errors, once we do that, I think we’ll do well.

“We do look a lot more solid than we have done, but it was still a kick in the teeth to concede in the way that we did when we’ve worked so hard throughout the game to not allow them any chances.

“We did really well throughout the game, so to concede how we did is frustrating, but we’ve got to take the positives into Oxford on Saturday.

“The manager has tried to make us harder to beat and be stronger defensively, and we’re trying to cut out the individual mistakes.

“I know there was one against Lincoln, but I think we’re getting there.”

Broadbent’s strong showing will have likely put him in the frame for selection against Oxford, as the Robins go hunting a first league victory over their arch-rivals since 2001.

The 27-year-old assured supporters the team is perfectly aware of how much this game means to everyone involved, but said the players must not treat the contest any differently than they normally would for fear of dropping their concentration.

Broadbent said: “We all know the significance of the Oxford game, don’t worry about that.

“It’s a derby and we want to win it for ourselves, but we want to win it for the fans as well.

“It will feel different, all games feel different at the moment, but we know the importance of this fixture and we’ll do our best to come out on top.

“We’ve got to concentrate on ourselves first and foremost, so as long as we stay solid in defence, I think we can beat any team.”