Gary Ablett handed debuts to all five of his new signings as County began the second half of the season determined to climb away from the foot of the table.

Danny Pilkington was drafted in to replace the suspended David Poole with James Vincent given the nod to partner David Perkins in midfield.

Former County loanee, Gordon Greer, captained the Robins.

New year; new signings; new hope.Unfortunately, it was a similar outcome, with County losing despite yet again outplaying a team towards the top end of the division.On this occasion, it was a 1-0 defeat to promotion-chasing Swindon Town.

After the unexpected long break without a first-team game, the evening almost felt like the start of a brand new season as the Hatters took to the field for the first time in 22 days.

This feeling appeared to spill over onto the field, as the team, buoyed by their five recent signings, took the battle to the visitors' right from the start.And the new players were at the heart of everything the home side did, especially early on.

In particular, the new front-line partnership of Jemal Johnson and Jabo Ibehre, both on loan from MK Dons, caused numerous problems.American-born Johnson forced what looked suspiciously like a back pass to Swindon goalkeeper David Lucas after three minutes, but nothing was given by the referee.

The team was ready for this one, with David Perkins pulling the strings from midfield.And it was Perkins who set up the first real chance of the game after ten minutes, as he went on a surging run down the right, before setting up Danny Pilkington, who unfortunately shot straight at Lucas.

Just a minute later, Perkins, on loan from Colchester, was at it again.This time, he hit a cross-cum-shot, from the right corner of the penalty area, which caused panic in the Swindon defence before finally being cleared.

On the quarter hour mark, it was Ibehre's turn to cause problems, forcing a corner, before seeing his subsequent shot hit low and hard, albeit straight at the goalkeeper.

Swindon Town, the form team of League One, are renowned for their passing game.However, against the Hatters, they were forced into repeatedly playing the long ball.The new defensive partnership of Michael Raynes and Danny Swailes dealt with everything being thrown at them.

It took nearly half an hour before the visitors fashioned their first real chance, but the resulting goal was disallowed for offside.However, the warning had been heeded by County, who could have dealt with the build-up more effectively.

There was no way that the Hatters could sustain their early effort as the game eventually settled down.They did manage to regroup and apply some pressure in the final five minutes of the first half but to no avail and the teams went in level at 0-0.

The second 45 minutes started much the same as the first, with calls for a penalty two minutes in.Pilkington, playing his best game for County, drove down the left wing before cutting inside as he advanced into the area, going down under pressure.

County thought they'd finally got the breakthrough two minutes later after an excellent cross from the right by Michael Rose. Raynes looped the ball towards the goal, before a great save from Lucas fell to Ibehre, who headed into the net.Unfortunately, the linesmen raised the flag for offside.

Despite the home team dominating, the visitors gave them another scare just before the hour mark with the ball being played over to the left into the path of Billy Paynter.However, the former Hull City player wasted the opportunity by drilling the ball into the side-netting.

With the exception of the Paynter chance, the Hatters were still firmly in control.James Vincent sent a long-range effort over the crossbar on 62 minutes as the fans sensed a win was finally within reach.

Unfortunately, the home team were unable to create many clear-cut attempts and were made to pay in the cruellest of circumstances, twenty minutes from time.Pilkington ruined an excellent performance by bringing Kevin Amankwaah down in the area with a clumsy challenge.

The referee had no choice but to point to the spot and Paynter, Swindon's leading goal-scorer, calmly drilled the penalty into the roof of the net for an undeserved 1-0 lead.

Deflated by the goal, the game looked set to peter out.But County dug deep down inside to pull together for one last assault.Ibehre made a mazy run inside the area on 83 minutes, but shot over after being forced wide.

The best chance to equalize came right at the death, just as the game went into injury time.Ibehre was involved yet again, setting up his strike partner Johnson with an excellent opening.However, the night was summed up as Johnson's chance, which was heading for the bottom corner, was blocked by Amankwaah.

Understandably, frustrations boiled over at the final whistle, as the County players surrounded referee Graham Salisbury to question some of the decisions he made during the game.The fans also let their displeasure be known with some choice chants.