SWINDON Town head coach Ben Garner expects his side to meet a fully committed Hartlepool United on Saturday and says the days of teams being ‘on the beach’ no longer exist.

Town need to win in order to remain in touch with the play-off contenders while United have already started planning for next season due to a seven-game winless which has seen them drift into mid-table.

The Swindon boss believes all sides in League Two will continue to pose a threat, even if they have little to play for, and highlighted recent games against Crawley Town and Harrogate Town as examples of teams continuing to fight no matter the result.

Asked what kind of Hartlepool he expects his team to come up against this weekend, Garner said: “I don’t think any team will be ‘on the beach’ in this division.

“They’re going to compete, and they’re going to want to win. These are professional players – I think the days of teams ‘being on the beach’ are gone, I just think it’s a term that shouldn’t be in the game.

“Professional players are always playing for something. Hartlepool will be looking ahead to next season now in terms of who they’re going to retain or who they might recruit.

“Sometimes in these games, they will learn more about their players in terms of finding out who’s sticking at it, who really wants to improve, and who wants to take them forward as a football club.

“I’m expecting a tough game because it’s a difficult place to go, and we know we’ll have to play really well to win.”

Town will be without Rob Hunt and Joe Tomlinson against Hartlepool after both were confirmed to have suffered season-ending injuries.

Tomlinson’s absence in particular is likely to force Ellis Iandolo back to the left side of defence while Ben Gladwin could come into midfield as a result.

Garner has full confidence that, no matter who he selects to start, the visitors will have more than enough quality to take all three points.

He said: “Our away form has been very, very good, and we want to finish the season strongly on that front.

“We’ve got different options in terms of personnel we can play in different positions, and also what formation and shape we go with.

“I’m confident in the team that we’re putting out. We’re set on that and how we’re going to play.

“It’s a good team, it’s more than capable of going to win the game. We need to have the belief and courage to go and do that.”