Alan Pardew says his side will not hold back as Saints look to continue the impressive home form on Tuesday night.

The hosts are seeking a ninth league game unbeaten at St. Mary's in League One, but face a Swindon side more than holding their own in the play-off mix.

"You want to keep the momentum going," Pardew told Saints Player. "There is real belief in the team and the squad so we need to take that into the next game as soon as we can.

"I never felt we lost it to be honest. The game at Tranmere was a game where events seemed to go against us, I didn't think we played that bad although we got frustrated in the last thirty minutes, but until then we were pretty good. We had a good mentality and approached the game well so we have had good momentum, even though we lost the game. If I felt a bit more shocked by that result in terms of the performance then we wouldn't have been able to play like we did against Leeds, so I still think we are in a good place, the last fifteen games have been terrific and we have to keep that going.

"I'll prepare my side as I have done all season, to win the game. There were a couple of games at the start of the season where I had to try and protect us because we weren't good enough, but I haven't protected us for a long while now and I won't.

"We know that we've had to win every game and sometimes that works against us because we get a little bit frustrated, which we have in away games where we have tried to force the game. You can't do that in football, it's not a game you can force as it has too many dynamics to it, you've just got to be in a good place, do the right things, stick to the game plan and then if you're good enough you will come out as winners.

"Swindon have had a fantastic season. The manager has done a great job there and they've got good players. Their agenda is to make it difficult for us, they know we need to win, Danny (Wilson) is a smart manager and he will make it very difficult and try to stifle us. We need to overcome that and I think we are good enough to do that because a draw for Swindon is as good as a win for them."

Saints have a few prolific strikers on their books, but Pardew is well aware of the goal threat that the Robins have with forward Charlie Austin, who was not long ago plying his trade in non-league football, but is now Town's second leading marksman with 14 goals.

"We took Aaron Martin out of Eastleigh, and we hope that he will come through, but that boy (Austin) has done absolutely terrific, we have seen the videos of him and he is high energy, in your face and he has nicked some crucial goals for them. He's been a great signing, sometimes managers get snobbish about the Football League, but the non-league has always thrown up players, and I have always done well out of non-league. Fair play to Austin he has done well, and we will have to make sure that we are very careful and don't give him too much room.

"I think we have got to win our next four," the gaffer concluded. "I think we can probably afford one slip up, but not in the next four games because it will hurt our momentum. We need to win eight, or maybe nine of those games to have a chance, and I think we would have a chance if we won nine so it's there for us. This team has proven, particularly at home that it is good enough, it's the five away games, which don't look particularly taxing on paper, that we have to win."