FOREST Green boss David Hockaday insists Paolo Di Canio’s swashbuckling Swindon Town are a benchmark for success, writes Richard Joyce.

Hockaday, who graced Swindon as a player, said: "They showed us the level to which we would love to aspire too.

"We are really grateful for Swindon Town coming here and in the first half they made it very difficult for us and as regards the score it doesn't matter but yet it does in pre-season because they've scored three goals from set plays which is criminal.

"For them to score from three set plays is poor so defensively we didn't adjust to different people coming on but it has been a great night with over 1500 people here and you can see what we are all about.

"Swindon have enjoyed themselves and maybe we'll get them back next year which would be nice so it's just a great learning curve for us and it shows the players what we need to do to get where they want to get to."

Hockaday wants his side to learn from the 4-0 defeat.

He added: "We didn't play as well as we can tonight and a lot of that was down to Swindon but we didn't move the ball around and we didn't acquit ourselves but that's what pre-season is all about.

"We look as though we need to get mentally quicker which has got a lot to do with the physical conditioning but we lacked a bravery on the ball and didn't move it quick enough. At the end of the day we didn't acquit ourselves quite like we'd like to but we'll learn from it and move on."