Swindon Town had to be "battle hardy" in win over Mansfield, according to David Flitcroft

Town chief David Flitcroft was happy with his side's grit as Swindon needed to be "battle hardy" during their 3-1 win at the pre-season promotion candidates on Saturday.

Swindon took the lead at Field Mill early, as Amine Linganzi got his first goal for the club by flicking in a Matt Taylor free-kick with just four minutes on the clock.

Johnny Goddard made it 2-0 shortly before the break and Luke Norris continued his run of good form by netting a second-half penalty for 3-0 and game over.

Mansfield got a 90th-minute consolation but the contest had gone way before that.

Speaking to BBC Wiltshire at the conclusion of the match, Flitcroft said: "[Mansfield] have assembled a very good squad and they've won a lot of football matches here. There's an energy around the place.

"You've got to thwart that energy - the fans are buoyant, they're up for it before the game, they're up for it during the first 20 minutes and we had to come here and be battle hardy [and] resilient.

"We knew if we stayed well in the game we'd be able to pierce them and open them up.

"[The penalty that made it 3-0] killed their energy and momentum as a team. You'd expect a team of Steve Evans' to get a good rollocking [at half-time] and they did come out and impose that threat so the timing of that third goal's really important.

"It's a fantastic result."

Swindon will be hoping they can build on the Mansfield win with another three points on Tuesday night when Lincoln come to Town.

Following Saturday, the Robins' last five results read win, loss, win, loss, win and they currently sit eighth, as they attempt to get immediate promotion back to League One.

After Lincoln, they host Wycombe as once again they have back-to-back home matches. Swindon have only managed two wins on the bounce on one occasion this season.