CLUB captain Colin Towler is convinced the defeat to league leaders Crawley is nothing more than a minor blip.

Chippenham had gone into the game on the back of two impressive wins but came unstuck on Saturday when they went down 1-0. But Towler, 33, remained upbeat and said he felt his side had acquitted themselves well against a very good team.

"Crawley are a top of the table team but let's not forget the fact that we have been playing well ourselves and were fourth in the form guide," he said.

"If you look at their recent run of games I think they have had four or five clean sheets. They are getting their results because they are well organised and are catching teams out and winning 1-0."

Towler believed the Bluebirds had enough chances playing down the slope in the first half to have put the game to bed. "We caught them on the break a few times before half-time and I felt we had a definite penalty when their defender handled Beano's shot. I was told the lad played away the shot with his hand," he said.

"That was frustrating and I don't think the referee had a good day. There were a few dubious decisions and everything seemed to go against us.

"Fair play towards the end we went four up front and we really put them under pressure. Unfortunately right at the death Charlie's header went just off target and it was a 'what could have been' kind of thing.

"It was frustrating because I feel for the majority of the game we were the better side. We pressed the ball and closed them down extremely well. We looked sharp but unfortunately we didn't have that cutting edge and bit of luck to put the ball in the net."

But Towler hopes Chippenham can put on a good show against Dover this weekend. He said: "After that we've got Weymouth and every single game in this league is hard. But against Crawley we proved a point and proved we are a capable side and the defeat won't set us back."

Towler admits the end of season run-in will be tough but is glad the Bluebirds have their destiny in their own hands. "Our only problem is that there are only eight games left," he said. "If we could have replayed the season and started with the last ten games we would be very happy at the moment.

"The Crawley result is just a minor blip and it is up to us to get back on track again."