CONNAL Knott insisted his Swindon side put in a much improved performance away at Reading on Saturday but their efforts were not good enough to prevent a 26-24 loss.

The men from Greenbridge Road took the lead early on when Daniel Sear, recently promoted from the seconds, crossed the whitewash but the score was soon cancelled out as the hosts took the lead in what proved to be a roller coaster contest.

Tries from Cameron Brown and Tom Mannion, as well as points from the boot of Adam Westall, gave Swindon the lead heading into the final minutes but Reading forced a late try which ultimately took the contest away from the visitors.

Knott, restored at scrum half for the afternoon having played on the wing in recent weeks, believes his side’s display was an improvement on their defeat at Newbury last time out but was disappointed it wasn’t enough for victory.

“We scored the first try and then they came back a bit and it stayed like that for the rest of the game. It was a bit of a rollercoaster really,” he said.

“We were leading until the last five minutes but then we gave it away so it was all very frustrating.

“It was a decent performance and we played some good stuff but to come out with a defeat is disappointing.

“After our last game this was a massive improvement and we are making strides but we still didn’t get the result.

“It will come, I know it will, because we have plenty of experience in there even though we’ve lost a few players.

“It’s a bit of a building stage for us but we just need to learn to grind games out.

Swindon may not have won a game since the end of November but Knott is confident they can halt their losing run soon.

“There is a danger of things creeping into your head, that’s a problem, so we need to do something about that,” he said.

“Sometimes you can lose one and then quickly lose another and the defeats keep on coming so we need to snap out of it.

“We have experienced players and we have a good squad so I’m sure we can turn it around.”