OLLIE Banks says the significance of Swindon Town’s current run of potentially season-defining fixtures is not something that has been over-emphasised within the squad.

Town are in the midst of a sequence of seven matches in 22 days that could well determine exactly what they are able to achieve in League Two this term.

After wins at home to Crewe Alexandra last Saturday and away at Stevenage on Tuesday night, the intensity ramps up a notch this weekend when David Flitcroft takes his side to Lincoln City.

That is the first of four successive games when Swindon face another side in the thick of the fourth tier’s promotion battle, with matches against Accrington Stanley, Mansfield Town and Wycombe Wanderers all still ahead of them.

Midfielder Banks, who joined Town in January on loan until the end of the season from League One side Oldham Athletic, says players cannot afford to look at the bigger picture at this stage of the campaign.

Instead, the primary focus remains on the immediate task at hand, starting on at Sincil Bank on Saturday.

“The lads are just trying to take each game as it comes,” said 23-year-old Banks.

“Everyone knows the importance of winning every game, never mind against the teams around you.

“Sometimes it is the teams that aren’t doing so well in the league that can come up and bite you. I would like to think that the games against the teams around us take care of themselves.

“Hopefully we can go to Lincoln and get three points.

“I have only been here a month but I feel like I have been here a lot longer.

“There is a great set of lads in the dressing room. Everyone is pulling in the right direction and that is a massive thing.”

As well as some tough fixtures, Town also have plenty of travelling to contend with at present as their next assignment after the Lincoln game is a trip to Accrington next Tuesday.

The team will have racked up close to 1,000 miles in the space of eight days by the time they are back in Swindon following the Accy clash but with such a strong record on the road this season, Banks says there is nothing daunting about away days for Town.

“No fear is a good way of putting it. If we go out there and everyone performs and we do what we know we can, then there is no reason for us to fear anyone at all,” said Banks.

“It is hard with all the travelling but it is the life that we are in so you just have to deal with it, recover as best you can and prepare your body so you can go again.

“The staff take good care of us and they will make sure we are right to go to Lincoln and get three points.”

Seventh-placed Town are just two places and two points above Lincoln at present as Danny Cowley’s side continue their resurgence up the football pyramid having been crowned National League champions last term.

Banks was part of an Oldham side that fell victim to the Imps during their memorable run to the FA Cup quarter-finals as a non-league outfit last season so is well aware to expect a boisterous atmosphere at Sincil Bank.

“I have been to Lincoln myself last year as part of their good FA Cup run, although we were obviously on the wrong end of it,” said Banks.

“We know what to expect from Lincoln. They are going quite well and are a good side who pose a lot of threats. We will do out work and get ready for them.”