A WIN away at Forest Green Rovers on Saturday would send a big statement to the rest of the league, according to Swindon Town head coach Ben Garner.

Town head into the game against the League Two leaders in fifth but without five key players who are away on international duty.

Regardless of the slightly weakened squad, head coach Garner believes his side is still well capable of emerging victorious if they play to their usual standards.

In Friday’s pre-match press conference, the Town boss said: “If we can go to Forest Green tomorrow with five away on international duty and win the game, it would be a big statement.

“I’ve got complete trust and confidence in the group that we have that we can do that. If we perform to our levels, we will go and win the game – that’s our focus.

“We’re pleased with the start we’ve made in terms of the difficulties we encountered when we came in, but there have been a big step up in our performance levels over the past two games, and we’ll be looking to build on that and take those levels forward now.”

While Town have five players out due to international call-ups, Rovers have just the one in midfielder Ebou Adams – a key man for Rob Edwards.

Nevertheless, Garner is fully aware Town’s fight for the points remains tricky and has called on every single player who is involved on Saturday to lead the Wiltshire side to a shock three points in Nailsworth.

Garner said: “We want all of the players to lead in their own way. As the head coach, I want every player going into the game really confident in themselves, and also to be relaxed enough to play their natural game and perform in the best way they can.

“We always try and create an environment where we’re helping the players to do that whether they’ve played 10 games in a row or whether they’ve been out for three or four and they’re coming back in.

“As I’ve said many times, it’s a really close squad, a really tight-knit group. We’ve worked really hard on creating a culture where it is ‘group first’.

“Whether a player is playing 10 games in a row or coming on for the last 10 minutes, it all matters, and it all contributes to what we want to achieve this season.”