THE LAST-GASP defeat at Leeds on Monday night has not knocked the Canaries off track, believes experienced defender Gary Doherty as he prepares for the visit of Swindon to Carrow Road tomorrow (3pm).

Jermaine Beckford's injury-time strike made it 2-1 to United on the night and ended a six-game unbeaten run in league and cup for Paul Lambert's on-song Canaries.

It was rough justice on City, who had more than matched their high-flying hosts during an entertaining game before handing them the winner on a plate via an unfortunate mis-kick from 'keeper Fraser Forster.

Doherty commented: "It's all well and good playing well but obviously not getting the result is bitterly disappointing. But sometimes you do take positives from good performances. It's been our first defeat in four or five games so we've just got to put it to the back our minds, realise we've put on a decent performance and then take that into tomorrow.

"I don't think it's knocked confidence to be honest, we know we're playing quite well at the minute, everyone's bubbling, we know we've got goals in us and we're doing quite well. So we're just looking forward to tomorrow and hopefully three points."

Asked if he was still 'happy with the defence' despite that killer goal conceded at Elland Road, Doherty replied: "Not on that goal to be honest with you but it's going quite well. We've conceded a penalty I think in the four games before Leeds and that's not too bad and it's something we've got to keep going you know, because obviously if you want to get promotion then it needs to be based on a solid defence.

"The gaffer mentioned good teams come back. You always try and bounce back from defeat and that's what we've got to try and do tomorrow. We're in great form at home, we're scoring plenty of goals and hopefully we can take it to Swindon and get a good result."

Reporters at this morning's pre-match press conference were keen to get views from the City defender on quotes from Swindon boss Danny Wilson suggesting City's players might find the weight of expectation on them too much - and might not have what it takes to get Norwich promoted.

Doherty said: "We'll have to show him tomorrow that we have. I certainly think we have, I think we've got the players to get out of this league and it's up to us to show it. We know we're at a big club and we know we have to produce week in, week out.

"We're in the play-off positions at the minute but we really want to push on from there and obviously beating teams like Swindon at home is important because they are just behind and it would give us a good gap between us."

Asked if he was enjoying City's comparatively good spell at the moment after some testing seasons, he said: "Yeah it's going well of late. To be in a team which is going out and winning is obviously a good thing. We've just got to enjoy and we've just got to keep going. Particularly at home - we've got to be pretty much unbeatable at home if we want to get out of this league.

"The main goal's got to be to get Norwich City back in the Championship. That's the main aim of the players and the staff and we're working extremely hard to do that."

Limited tickets remain for Saturday's match at Carrow Road against Swindon - log on to online ticketing, call 0844 826 1902, or visit the Carrow Road ticket office or the Canary Store in the Mall, Norwich for more information and to purchase seats.

Can't get to Carrow Road? log on to Canaries Player for live audio commentary or visit canaries.co.uk and 'On the Ball'.

'On the Ball' is our live matchday service, keeping you up-to-date with all the action as it unfolds, bringing you news, views and reaction. You can share your views and opinions of the match on our Message Board, and we will select the best ones for use.