MICKEY Demetriou insists Newport County AFC’s clash with Swindon Town today is just the game he and his teammates need to get their season back on track.

The Exiles have let leads slip in each of their last three League Two matches, with the concession of late goals costing them a total of seven points.

Defender Demetriou reckons the team’s current run of six league fixtures without a win is merely a “blip” and that this

afternoon’s tough trip to the fifth-placed Robins (kick-off 3pm) hasn’t necessarily come at a bad time.

“For some reason we play better against the better teams,” said the 27-year-old. “We just need to go and play the way we know we can play.

“We’ve got good players in the team, we’ve proved that already this season, so hopefully we can prove that again, get out of this blip and start a mini run going.

“Hopefully we’ll put in a good performance, I think that’s the most important thing.

“The results might not happen but as long as we put in a good performance and move on from Tuesday night (a 2-1 defeat to Barnet) because we know we were bad, so there’s no hiding it.”

He added: “It wasn’t good enough from everyone and as players we know the manager doesn’t need to come and tell us that.

“We’re our own worst critics and we just need to move on. We can’t dwell on it because if we do mistakes might happen again.

“We’re not cracking under the pressure because four games ago we had never done anything like this since I’ve been here.

“We know we’re going to score goals. It would be nice to score a few more, then obviously if the mistakes do happen they won’t be so costly.

“Hopefully we can all chip in with a few more and if those mistakes do happen in the last five minutes we’re already 2-0 or 3-0 up and it won’t be so important.

“Obviously it’s nice to keep a clean sheet but I’d rather win the game.”

Demetriou also laughed off any suggestion that County’s inability to preserve a lead is down to a lack of fitness.

“We’re not unfit because even when we concede we’re still

going to the end of the game,” he said.

“The GPS data proves that we’re all running 12-15km a game – if we were unfit we wouldn’t be able to do that.

“It’s a blip. We know we need to get out of it sooner rather than later, so hopefully we can start on that against Swindon.

“We’ve been playing better against the better sides and hopefully we can bounce back like we normally do.”

County’s last league success came at Forest Green Rovers on October 14 when Padraig Amond netted a brace and Scot Bennett and Shawn McCoulsky also scored in a 4-0 rout.

Swindon go into today’s game on the back of a 3-2 defeat by Grimsby Town, with Exiles old boy Mitch Rose grabbing a late winner for the Mariners.