COLIN Todd decided to give his team the opportunity of claiming back some pride last night (Tuesday, October 17) and they did not disappoint.

Saturday's dismal defeat at the hands of Oldham was still fresh in everybody's mind as Town took on Swansea at a very soggy Vetch Field.

The Town boss had threatened major changes to his starting 11 after watching them surrender 1-0 to the Latics. However, he stuck by his players and they repaid him with a gritty, determined performance that, at least, restored some pride.

Pretty, it most certainly was not. At times it was a downright poor encounter.

But Town never looked in danger against a side on a massive high after beating Stoke at the weekend.

Swansea, backed by a vociferous home following, were buoyant coming into this fixture and started with great pace and vigour.

But Town's defence had probably their best game of the season so far, snuffing out almost every home attack and looking comfortable in the process.

It was just a shame that the front two could not create anything of note at the other end.

Town are still struggling to find the net, and it does not seem to matter who is in the firing line.

Todd kept faith with Martin Williams and Gary Alexander as his starting pair but ended the match with Mark Robertson and Giuliano Grazioli.

It is safe to say that none of the four will have given Swansea keeper Roger Freestone a sleepless night.

Typically it was down to defender Alan Reeves to have the best chance of the night as he hooked a Robertson cross past the post late in the second half.

Swansea had also created very little although Bart Griemink was forced into tipping Steve Watkin's header over the bar in the 39th minute.

After the break Swansea did push forward and produced a good spell of pressure. But Griemink was equal to a headed effort from Jason Price and a long-range effort from the tricky Stuart Roberts.

Indeed, Roberts was something of a handful all evening and his contest with Sol Davis was one of the most engaging aspects of the entire match.

Bobby Howe did have a great chance when Freestone misjudged a looping Mark Robinson cross. However, as the ball landed at the midfielder's feet he dallied and the keeper had time to recover.

Reeves flashed his effort past the post in the 78th minute and right at the end Jonathan Coates fizzed an effort across goal for the home side.

The draw gave Town boss Todd renewed hope for the future.

"There was a big improvement from the players and I am pleased about that," he said. "I stuck by them and warned them that if they did not pick their game up then they would face the consequences. But to be fair they set their stall out well.

"There was a good discipline in the side. We passed the ball better and I thought in the first half, with a little bit more care or thought, we could have produced a goal or two.

"We lost things a bit in the second half but overall they went out there and worked hard. We grafted well and tried to move the ball in a fashion that I would like to see my teams play."

He admitted that he had come close to wholesale changes.

"Team selection was something I thought long and hard about but the same players had done all right for three games at Luton, Wigan and Oxford. There was no need to take gambles just because of one 90 minutes," he said. "The most important thing was to come here and go away with something in the bag.

"Once again it gives me and the players a little bit of encouragement. We were probably the better side but we only have one point to show for it.

"I thought we had a tremendous back four, the two midfielders did well but we did lose things a bit on the flanks and up front.

"Overall there has been a remarkable improvement. It was a game I never thought we were going to lose but we just need a bit more quality again to produce a goal. Now we have to go into the Bristol Rovers game on Saturday with a lot of belief."

Todd felt last night's result will have helped to put the Oldham disappointment out of the players' minds as they look forward to the West Country derby.

"I was very disappointed with the result on Saturday and I wanted to get something from this game," he said. "Swansea have a side which defends pretty well and this was always going to be a tough place to come and play.

"They beat Stoke on Saturday and yet we could have won here. I still maintain we are capable of beating any side on our day.

"We have to show the discipline, fire, purpose and control in the final third."

However, the bad news for Todd is that Sol Davis and Bobby Howe are now suspended after picking up their fifth bookings of the season.