HEAD coach Ben Garner has called on Swindon Town fans to make the difference in Saturday’s west-country derby against Bristol Rovers and said “there is no extra 10 per cent to find” from his players.

The Town boss clarified his statement by saying his players give their maximum in every game, and that the only way they might be able to raise performances levels is if the away following fuels an extra push during the 90 minutes.

Garner has called on the sell-out Town section to cheer every pass, tackle, and hopefully goal as the County Ground outfit strives to take home local bragging rights.

In Friday’s pre-match press conference, Garner said: “It is the supporters that give it the extra spice.

“I think it will be a great atmosphere – we’ll take a great away following again, as we have done in every game. But as professionals, our focus needs to be on our process and what we do.

“We can’t prepare in any more detail or work any harder than any other week. There’s no extra 10 per cent to find, we’re already working at the maximum, we’re already putting everything in for every game.

“If we didn’t do that, it would be disrespectful to the club and to the supporters because we’re not giving everything. The fact that it’s a derby game is added to by the fans, and hopefully that will give us an added edge.”

Garner – who has all 23 players available after positive training weeks for the likes of Anthony Grant and Harry McKirdy – will take his new team back to the club that sacked him in December 2020 following a poor start to the season.

The Town boss claims this game means no more to him than any other, and he wants his players to treat it in the same way.

Garner said: “It’s a balance between drawing on the emotion but not getting caught up in it.

“You want to use that energy and channel that emotion and passion but in the right way. If it goes too far, it damages performance.

“We need to find that balance, which I think we’ve done so far this season. That will be the case again against Bristol Rovers – we want fire in the belly but ice in the veins as they say.

“We want to be fired up for the game but still composed because with the way we play, you can’t go too far with the emotion otherwise it negatively affects the performance.”