SWINDON Town head coach Ben Garner was beaten to August’s League Two manager of the month award by Forest Green Rovers’ Rob Edwards on Friday.

Despite the disappointment of coming up short alongside Hartlepool United’s Dave Challinor and Harrogate Town’s Simon Weaver, Garner stated the nomination alone was enough to make him feel proud on behalf of everyone at the County Ground for the dedication they have shown since he arrived.

From a point where the club had just five registered professional players, Town recovered almost miraculously to take 10 points from the club’s opening five league games.

Not only were results largely positive, but the performances were often entertaining and effective – a fact that saw the Town boss put up for the season’s opening award.

Asked how he felt after being pipped to the prize, Garner said: “To have the nomination was a reward for everyone’s work since day one of coming in the door – from the top of the club all the way through the departments.

“The nomination was a reflection of the sheer amount of hard work and dedication that has gone into these past few weeks.

“It’s really nice for us to be nominated, but I think it should be club of the month rather than manager of the month.

“Hopefully we can have some more nominations throughout the season because that will mean we’re doing well.”

The relative disappointment came days after Town’s stand-out player of August – Jojo Wollacott was snubbed from his respective entry list in favour of Tranmere Rovers’ Joe Murphy.

Garner insisted Wollacott was not put out by the omission and is concentrating on helping the team remain in the top seven going forward.

Garner said: “It’s nice to get the individual accolades with people being recognised for what they’re doing, but I’ll be honest, our focus is as a team.

“We want the collective rewards, the collective wins and achievements. If there are individual awards and recognition along the way then that becomes a bonus for us.”

Town have reminded fans that tickets for tomorrow's game are only available in person until 1pm.

The club have asked supporters to arrive early in order to avoid any disappointment but mentioned that tickets are available to buy online until half-time.