MARK Yates feels the County Ground played host to the two best sides in League Two on Saturday as Cheltenham were edged out 1-0 by Swindon.

Cheltenham made the short trip to Wiltshire hoping to close the gap on first-place Town to just three points with a win.

It looked like it might just have been their day when Oliver Risser was adjudged to have brought down Darryl Duffy inside the area after 30 minutes, and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.

However, Wes Foderingham guessed correctly to dive the right way and deny Duffy’s spot kick and Town took full advantage to score what would prove to be the winner five minutes later, when Paul Benson struck from Alessandro Cibocchi’s perfect cross.

“The players gave me everything and we have seen the best two sides in League Two,” said Cheltenham boss Yates, “We battered a very, very good side but we did not get what we deserved. If the players do that until the end of the season then we’ll be fine.”

Yates was also keen to reserve praise for Town keeper Foderingham, who he believes proved to be the only difference between the two sides.

“I think their goalkeeper was fantastic,” he added. “We don’t blame players here for missing chances because the important thing is that we are creating them.

“It was one of our best performances of the season and what we need to do now is rediscover the recipe to give us those energy levels.”

Cheltenham went into the weekend in second place but the defeat and results elsewhere means they are now down to fourth.

“We look like we are a very good team and if we get 10 more of those we’ll get to where we want to be,” said Yates.

“We’ve now got a mini-league of 10 games and we’ll try to take care of ourselves.

“We’ll go again today and have a good week at the training ground. We’ll lick our wounds before a massive game next week against Gillingham.

“We’ve still got massive belief in the changing room. We don’t need new players - we’ve got a good squad and we’ll use them as we see fit.”