OXFORD may have won the battle but Swindon can win the war.

That is the belief of Town boss Paolo Di Canio after watching his side suffer a second defeat of the season to their arch-rivals on Saturday.

Everything in the build-up to the game pointed to a Swindon victory. The Robins made the short trip along the A420 looking to record an 11th successive league victory while Oxford themselves had played down their chances of retaining the bragging rights following the news earlier in the week that key midfielder Peter Leven was to miss the rest of the season.

Such thoughts were only strengthened once proceedings got underway early on a sunny Saturday afternoon as the visitors dominated from the outset, before the dismissal of talismanic striker James Constable had home fans fearing the worst.

But then came what Di Canio described as three crazy minutes as first Asa Hall opened the scoring when he converted Lee Holmes’ 16th minute free kick before Oli Johnson added a second just minutes later.

Swindon dominated possession from then on but were unable to convert that into clear-cut chances, and when they did manage to find a way through a resolute defence, they found Oxford keeper Ryan Clarke in dominant form.

Thanks to Swindon’s magnificent run prior to the game, they were in the fortunate position of being able to lose the game but remain in first place.

And Di Canio has urged his players to accept the defeat, dust themselves down and focus on the next battle.

“For a nation, when they go to war they obviously go to try and win the war. But to do that they have to fight in many, many battles,” he said.

“You can go through this way and lose seven or eight battles, but you also have to win many battles.

“We have won many and we are at the top for a reason. So a team can lose one battle, it can even be against their worst enemy, but the important thing is to accept it, put the stitches in the wounds and keep going because we have to go into another battle soon.

“Now it is crucial to win the next battle to maintain our position at the top of the table.”

It certainly did not look like Town would be on the losing side of Saturday’s battle as Town dominated from the outset.

Ronan Murray, brought into the starting line-up after scoring last Tuesday, pounced on a poor clearance by Clarke and though he had only the Oxford keeper to beat, he compounded to shoot wide from the edge of the area.

Constable’s red card only heightened the belief that Swindon would be the side celebrating victory but, ironically, the striker’s dismissal ultimately worked in the hosts’ favour.

Perhaps, determined to make amends for the perceived injustice, Oxford immediately looked a more determined side and Alessandro Cibocchi, looking a little nervy on the left, needlessly conceded a free kick in a dangerous position.

Oxford punished Town twice from set pieces in the meeting between the two earlier this season and they capitalised once again as Hall stabbed home from Holmes’ delivery.

Two minutes later, and with visitors still reeling from that suckerpunch, the U’s went further ahead.

This time, Holmes was allowed to scamper down the left side of the area and the former Town loanee delivered a low ball across goal that Oli Johnson gleefully slotted home.

Di Canio knew something had to change to increase Swindon’s chances of rescuing something from the game and he opted to haul off Cibocchi in the 20th minute and brought on tough tackling midfielder Jon Smith in his place.

Swindon were firmly on top and only the post denied them halving the deficit just after the half hour when Matt Ritchie dispatched a sweetly-struck effort from the edge of the area that cannoned back off the crossbar before the loose ball was cleared.

The visitors continued to dominate possession but were unable to come any closer to scoring before the half time whistle was blown.

It was going to need an almighty second half effort for the visitors to haul themselves back into contention, and they picked up where they left off as Oxford found themselves firmly entrenched inside their own half.

Paul Benson should perhaps have done better just before the hour when he rose to meet Ritchie’s corner, but the in-form striker’s header was straight at Clarke.

After that, Smith’s close-range shot was held by Clarke, while Luke Rooney shot into the side netting when squaring a pass to Ritchie might have been the better option.

Smith was replaced by Lee Cox before Di Canio opted to introduce Billy Bodin for Murray in a last-ditch effort to instigate a turnaround.

But Oxford continued to defend impressively and held on to secure a victory that will be vital in their play-off push.

Di Canio was clearly disappointed by the defeat after the final whistle, and made a point of walking across the pitch to applaud the travelling Swindon fans.

“I am not happy but I can’t forget that before this game we won 10 games, collecting 30 points and we stay at the top, despite the defeat,” he added.

“We have to accept the defeat but now we must cancel it from our mind. We have two home games now so we have a good chance to recover.”