EVERY week from now until the end of the season will be vital for Swindon Town if the club is to achieve its goal of promotion, according to head coach Ben Garner.

Once Swindon have played Mansfield Town on Tuesday night, that result will mark the half-way point in the club’s season.

Should Garner’s men avoid defeat at Field Mill, they will head into another challenging fixture on Saturday – away to fellow promotion rivals Port Vale – inside the play-off places.

As expected, the Town boss will not be looking at Port Vale until approximately 10pm on Tuesday night but admitted this week will be immensely important for his team in the context of the club’s long-term ambitions.

He said: “It is a big week, but for us every week is a big week. Between now and the end of the season, every week is going to be vital.

“We need to have as many positive weeks as we can, starting with Tuesday night against Mansfield. That’s all our focus is on at the moment.

“Immediately after the game on Friday night, this game was where our attention switched to.

“It was great to get into the third round of the FA Cup and to have that occasion, but now we move forward with positivity and optimism going into the Mansfield game.”

Swindon travel to a Mansfield side that has won seven of its past eight games while scoring at least two goals in four of the club’s previous five outings in all competitions.

Garner is aware of the challenge that the Stags will present but has backed his players to come out with a positive result if they repeat the standard of performance shown against Man City.

He said: “This game will be a big test defensively. They’re very positive in what they do, they’ve got good movement and rotation in forward areas, and they get good runners forward from midfield.

“Whether they play in a diamond or a back three with four in midfield and three up front, it’s always very fluid.

“We’re going to have really good concentration and energy levels, we’ll have to have good intensity to our defending.

“That’s one of the positives we can take from Friday night – our concentration, our movement and staying with runners against Manchester City was very good. If you can do it against them then you can do it against anyone.”