Kane Wilson: Forest Green motivated by play-off heartbreak

Wing-back Kane Wilson says Forest Green Rovers are using the heartbreak of falling short in the play-offs last year as motivation to secure promotion.

The League Two leaders are five points clear of Exeter City in second and 10 points ahead of fourth placed Mansfield Town with six matches to go.

Last season, the Gloucestershire club were in the top three only to drop into the play-offs in March.

They were beaten by Newport 4-3 on aggregate in the play-off semi-finals.

"That play-off against Newport, the second-leg one especially, everyone that was here felt it and a lot of the lads who weren't here watched it," Wilson told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.

"That heartbreak of not going up and not doing what we wanted to do stuck with a lot of us.

"If we can use that to keep fuelling us - I'll be honest it's fuelled me for part of this season, when there's been times you're maybe looking for that motivation, you think to yourself 'well, remember how it felt last year, remember how it felt for everyone, the fans'.

"If we keep using that motivation and remember what it felt like not to do it, hopefully it pushes us to do it."

Forest Green have been at the top of the table since September and went on a run of 19 matches unbeaten into February that pushed them 10 points clear of their nearest challenger.

However, a streak of seven games without a win followed and their advantage was cut in half.

They face relegation threatened Barrow and Oldham Athletic over the Easter weekend, yet Wilson said that comes with its own challenges.

"It's brilliant, we've been top of the league all year and it's been amazing, but when you think about it a lot of teams probably see us as a way to kick-start their season," he added.

"If Barrow can go and get a win against top of the league, all of a sudden their last results don't look too bad, it looks like they've turned a corner.

"We have to be careful with things like that. Every team playing against us wants to do well, because it's a free hit for them."

Forest Green could seal promotion to League One for the first time in the club's history by Easter Monday if results go their way.

"People are going to set up and try to make it difficult but I think as long as we keep doing what we are doing, and it hasn't caused us too many problems yet, we can keep having a go, keep turning up and hopefully it gets us over the line," Wilson added.

Forest Green also lost top scorer Matty Stevens this month to an anterior cruciate ligament injury, which has ruled him out long-term. Stevens had scored 27 goals in all competitions this season.

Club captain and centre forward Jamille Matt - whose goal tally stands at 18 in the league - is also a doubt for the weekend, according to Edwards, after going off with concussion in the recent draw with Hartlepool.

Wilson, 22, joined Forest Green last season and has 13 assists this campaign, the most of any player in the squad.

"Matty was incredible for us this season, one of the best sniffers of a goal as a poacher I've ever come across," Wilson added.

"It's obviously a massive miss to lose him but the things Marchy [Josh March] brings, he can bring that goal but he also gives us a completely different dynamic in our open play stuff and in our attacking sense.

"We can go different paths, we can go channel balls and it gives us a different threat other than what it was. Matty was a goal poacher, Jamma is Jamma - he does it all - me and Cad [Nicky Cadden] on the wing but Marchy give us a different dynamic and makes the defenders have a different worry."