RICHIE Wellens says Swindon Town’s supporters have a big role to play if the team are to get themselves into contention for a shot at the League Two play-offs over the final third of the season.

After 32 of 46 fixtures, Town are 14th in the table, but only six points adrift of seventh place – the last of the play-off positions.

Town claimed a first home win of 2019 when beating Forest Green Rovers 2-0 last Tuesday night, and after a weekend without a game, face two more back-to-back fixtures at the Energy Check County Ground.

Grimsby Town make the trip to SN1 on Saturday before Colchester United visit seven days later.

Town boss Wellens, who won promotion twice during his playing career, says a vocal support behind his side in home games can have a big bearing on what they are able to achieve on the pitch.

“Building a team is about putting things in place. You have your fundamentals and your basics and your framework to work from,” said Wellens.

“But then you have to involve the supporters.

“As a player, I have been involved in numerous promotion pushes and play-offs.

“If you don’t have the supporters on side giving you that feel-good factor, it is impossible to be successful.

“And I have played away at grounds against a team that is going for promotion with five or six games to go where I have thought: ‘This team is going to go up’.

“You can feel it in the ground – the place is rocking.

“That’s what we have got to try to generate here.”

One of Town’s goalscorers against Forest Green, Theo Robinson, received a standing ovation from the County Ground faithful after being withdrawn in the latter stages of his home debut.

Wellens says a strong affinity between players and supporters will help the Town squad raise their level of performance.

“That’s what we want – now the supporters have got a relationship with a player,” said Wellens.

“The player comes off and the supporters sing his name and he feels 10 feet tall.

“We don’t know what we can achieve, but what I do know is that players at the very top level, if you sing songs about them, they are better players. It is 10-fold at this level.

“When a player at the top level has got confidence, he is a top player. But when he is lacking confidence, he is still a very, very good player.

“At this level, if you are playing with confidence, you’re a good player. But if you are playing with a lack of confidence, you’re a bad player.

“That is how much confidence means. When you have got supporters signing your name, you are gaining confidence.”