MARK Cooper has insisted that he and his Swindon Town players will be determined to put in one final hurrah for the County Ground crowd this weekend, despite their slim play-off hopes being crushed at Meadow Lane on Saturday.

Town’s 2-0 defeat to Notts County ended the Robins’ chances of securing a top-six finish in League One, though Peterborough United’s victory over Shrewsbury Town rendered whatever result Cooper’s men managed against the Magpies redundant.

Now the Swindon boss is faced with the task of motivating his squad for a last-day dead rubber against Rotherham United.

Cooper, though, stressed that he and his playing staff intend to end the season on a high, saying: “I’m fine. I’m ready to go Monday and we’ll try to get a team out on Saturday.

“I’d rather try to go out on a win. We’ve got a chance to do that next week in a real tough opponent in Rotherham. There’s no pressure on us. We’ve just got to try to go out and play and try to get a result.

“We’ll do what we’ve been doing all season – we’ll just prepare properly.”

Swindon have always been the underdogs in the race for sixth place and only a run of six wins in seven matches gave them even a sniff of overhauling Peterborough.

Therefore, Cooper remained philosophical and proud of the fact his young and inexperienced squad have guaranteed at least eighth this term.

He said: “Deep down we always knew we were chasing and it was going to take a twist of fate for us to get into the play-offs. We’re delighted with the way we ended the season and hopefully we’ll put on a good performance next week and be ready for next year.”