Forest Green Rovers head for Cheltenham Town on Saturday still needing points to secure a second season in the Football League.

Survival is still very much in their own hands – Barnet and Chesterfield remain the favourites to drop out of League Two – but Mark Copper’s men could do with another couple of wins over their remaining five games.

A win against their big Gloucestershire rivals would be just perfect, of course, and central defender Farrend Rawson is certainly looking forward to his first experience of playing at Cheltenham.

“It’s a derby game and I can’t wait to get started,” said the 21-year-old. “I’m not from around here but I know what derby games are all about.

“These are the games we get out of bed for and we know how important they are to the fans.

“But at this stage of the season they are all big games.”

And Nottingham-born Rawson, who joined Forest Green at the start of January from Derby on an 18-month deal remains convinced that Forest Green have what it takes to avoid making a speedy exit from the Football League.

“Definitely,” he said. “I’ve seen it from both sides because I played against them at the start of the season when I was on loan at Accrington.

“Accrington won 1-0 but it was one of the toughest games we had when I was there.

“Since Christmas we’ve picked up a fair few points. We’ve definitely got the ability to stay up, it’s just a question of getting the job done and getting over the line.”

Rawson has more than played in his part in Rovers’ survival bid, even to the extent of scoring the second goal in the 3-1 win over Stevenage after being pushed up front in the closing stages of the game.

“I’m a bit of a lump up front but sometimes it works,” he laughed.

Rawson has certainly packed a lot into his short football career because he also had loan spells with Rotherham (twice) and Coventry before his footballing journey brought him to the south of Gloucestershire.

And he has certainly liked what he has seen at Forest Green during the three months he’s been there.

“They are a great club with great facilities,” he said. “Everybody is together and we’ve got a great set of fans.

“There’s a real burst of energy around the place and everyone is backing everyone.

“The club have come a long way in a short time and we just need to make sure that we get over the line now.”

And they will be a lot closer to getting over the line if they leave Cheltenham on Saturday with three points in their back pockets of course.