SWINDON Town head coach Ben Garner says regular-season form counts for little in the play-offs, but his side must not take their eye off the ball if they are to qualify in the first place.

Following four wins in the past five games, Town appear to have hit their straps in the nick of time ahead of their final-day fixture away at Walsall on Saturday.

Should victory be claimed, Swindon would make the play-offs for just the fifth time since achieving promotion to the Premier League in 1992-93.

While many fans cannot help but turn attention to the post-season tournament now that Town are on a good run, Garner warned that form does not always count for much when the stakes are so high.

He said: “Momentum is great right now. We’ve had it at different stages of the season, and we’ve got it now which is wonderful.

“But I’ve experienced the play-offs, I’ve worked for managers that have been highly-experienced in play-off situations – once the season finishes, the play-offs are a different competition.

“You have to reset and go again, and you have to completely wipe the slate clean because once you go into the play-offs it’s a completely different type of football.

“I’ve been successful before in the play-offs, we’ve got players in the dressing room who have been successful before.

“But we’re not getting ahead of ourselves, Walsall on Saturday is the first step.”

Several weeks back, Garner forecasted that Swindon would require “perfection” from their final few games – a sequence of results that was achieved in a quite extraordinary manner.

Labelling the situation Town find themselves in as “like something out of a movie”, Garner said everyone at the club deserves a pat on the back for the part they have played in attempting to give the club its Hollywood ending.

He said: “It would be magical (to go up via the play-offs) – it really has been a fairy tale because of where we were in July to get to this position.

“There are so many people who deserve huge, huge credit. It would be absolutely amazing, but we’ve got to keep performing.

“We’ve got to keep working hard each day, and we’ve got to keep doing the right things because that’s what has got us into this position and that’s what will take us forward in the future.”