IT just had to be Oxford didn’t it?

An unbeaten run that stretched back to before the turn of the year that has seen Swindon sweep aside promotion rivals and relegation battlers alike, ended by their fiercest rivals.

But Town were going to have to lose one day and, regardless of who was to beat them, Paolo Di Canio and his players can be immensely proud of their achievement.

When the run started with that memorable win at Northampton on New Year’s Eve, Town had been hoping to force their way into the play-off places.

Ten consecutive wins later, they sit proudly at the top of the League Two standings.

Yes, it was a little disappointing that Town couldn’t rewrite history again – they were just two games shy of matching the divisional record of successive wins – but the target first and foremost this season is promotion, and the Robins are very much on course to achieve just that.

Oxford ending the unbeaten run could also prove to be something of a blessing in disguise. The constant desire to keep the run going can begin to weigh heavy on the minds of the fans and players.

Take Huddersfield for example. The talk before just about every game during the first half of this season was about their unbeaten run. Eventually, the importance of keeping it going overshadowed the importance of actually winning games.

It quickly became clear that they developed a mentality that it was better to avoid defeat than throw caution to the wind and go for wins, the consequences of which are now becoming evident as their automatic promotion challenge continues to fade.

An unbeaten run can also give opposition teams another reason to step up their game, because they want to be the side that brings it to an end.

Now, shorn of the record, Swindon can focus on the main task at hand without thoughts of breaking records playing on their minds.

The players will undoubtedly be hurting from Saturday’s defeat and they will be determined to make amends by taking three points from strugglers Dagenham & Redbridge tomorrow.

And you never know, it could well be the start of another winning run that ultimately ends with promotion.