DEFENDER Rob Hunt is hoping it will be third time lucky for Swindon tonight when they face Cheltenham Town in an FA Cup first-round replay at the County Ground.

The west-country pair have faced each other twice already in the fledgling months of the 2019-20 season, with both games ending in draws at Cheltenham’s Jonny-Rocks Stadium.

With a winnable second round tie at home to Port Vale the prize for the victors, many feel this season presents Swindon’s best chance to reach the third round since 2012.

However, Hunt is not getting carried away and simply wants a victory over Swindon’s local rivals to make up for what he feels were the injustices of previous results.

Hunt said: “It’s still very early on in the season, so we’ll concentrate on ourselves and try to keep the run going for as long as possible.

“Both teams have got a good idea about how the other plays, but I think we’ve done very well against them in the two previous games.

“We probably should have won both the away games this season, but it will be another tough game at home.

“Hopefully we can put in another good performance and get the win to send us through.”

Should Swindon make a slow start to tonight’s proceedings, the 24-year-old said he and his teammates will not panic as the team knows they have the ability to score goals at any time – even without top scorer Eoin Doyle available.

An intrinsic knowledge of Richie Wellens’ tactics makes it simple for newcomers to understand where they need to be in the starting XI when forging attacking moves, according to Hunt.

He said: “We’ve got some very good players in this team and we know the quality we’ve got going forward, so I don’t think we should ever panic.

“We create so many chances per game against most teams, so we’ll always believe we can get back in the game and score the goals we need.

“We have a way of playing – everyone understands that – the movement, the rotation and being in the right place at the right time.

“Having that chemistry with your teammates where you’ve played with them so many times, you expect them to be somewhere.

“We know what we’re good at and we’ll stick to it.”