When will Swindon Town fortunes change for the better? (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

When will Swindon Town fortunes change for the better?

SWINDON Town continued a dismal run of form on Saturday, going down by two goals to one at Bournemouth.

In the first half, Town showed a definite improvement on their performances in recent weeks.

Even so, it was the Cherries who took the lead shortly after the break as an unmarked Gareth O'Connor fired home from ten yards.

The Robins responded positively and their captain, Sean O'Hanlon, curled in a beautiful goal to level things at one apiece.

Frustratingly for the visitors, Shaun Maher was able to grab a second for Bournemouth just before the end to ensure that Andy King's men went home with nothing.

After the match, the Town supremo defended his decision to play a 4-5-1 formation, by saying:

"When you're not playing well enough to be cavalier, you look at things again. If you use 4-5-1 the right way and get people wide, then it isn't a negative formation.

"All I know is that I'm not going to have a nice Christmas dinner, and that bothers me. But then again, I might have a nice Boxing Day meal."

Swindon fans will certainly be hoping that Mr King does indeed enjoy his Boxing Day - and a win at Peterborough United is the only way to ensure that.

The Robins have suddenly hit an unbelievably bad patch. When one consider that this is a team that were vying for the top spots in a more challenging division last season, the fervent hope is that they stop the rot on their trip to London Road.

Barry Fry's men took all the points in the first fixture between the two sides at the County Ground earlier this season in what was an afternoon of terrible football.

As the Posh currently sit in the relegation zone, after being trounced 4-0 by Barnsley on the weekend, this really is a great chance for Swindon to get their season back on track.

Swindon then face surprise package Brentford on New Year's Day, a side that are defying their tag as relegation favourites and currently challenging in the play-offs.

Again, though, this is a match that the Robins are capable of winning, and anything other than three points really won't be good enough. It's time for Town to stand up and be counted.