PUTTING his players in the right frame of mind was key to Swindon Town’s 2-1 victory away at Sutton United on Tuesday night, according to head coach Ben Garner.

As the former Premier League outfit travelled to a team enjoying a fine start to their first ever taste of the English Football League, Town could have been forgiven for arriving at Gander Green Lane with something of a superiority complex.

But Garner said afterwards he was always keen to ensure that did not happen – with respect and humility top of the agenda for his players to consider.

Speaking after a charismatic victory against Sutton, Garner said: “We spoke a lot about having the right mentality going into that game, and respect too.

“I thought we were humble coming here, we were very respectful of what Sutton have done – we certainly didn’t take them lightly.

“Matt (Gray, Sutton manager) has done a wonderful job here already this season, and last season with getting them promoted.

“We had full respect for them, we prepared in the right way, and we thrived on the big-game pressure – it was a very pleasing win.”

Town lined up in their usual 5-3-2 formation on Tuesday without club captain, Dion Conroy as he attempts to recover from a swollen ankle as quickly as possible.

Reflecting on another strong defensive performance on their travels, the Town boss was impressed with the first half an hour in particular.

Garner said: “Dealing with their direct threat was big for us. We had to compete for first and second balls at all times, and then play off of that.

“In the first half an hour, we were fantastic. We dealt with everything they threw at us, but then we played our game.

“We stopped doing that a little bit in the last 15 minutes of the first half, and where as we were giving them the odd throw-in or the odd free-kick, that became more because we weren’t keeping the ball as well.

“We reaffirmed the key messages at half-time, we adapted one or two minor things – there wasn’t a great deal to change.

“It was just a case of telling the players to get back to what they were doing in the first half an hour, and try to get that third goal. We had some great opportunities, but we couldn’t quite do it.”