The Robins finished comfortably in sixth place in League Two and have been prepared for the end-of-season lottery for some time.
But their counterparts go into Sunday's first leg play-off semi-final having held a firm grip on second spot as the campaign entered the home straight, before failing to win any of their final five matches to miss out on a top-three finish on the final day of the regular season.
Asked whether that gives his side a psychological advantage, Yates told Robins Player on the club's official website: "It could do, it could well do, but we can't pre-empt what they're thinking, what their thoughts are.
"We've just got to concentrate on ourselves. They put a lot of effort into last Saturday and the disappointment of that, we've got to make sure if we get the chance to press that home and get an advantage then we'll try and do that on Sunday.
"But I don't think so, they've had a little bit of play-off experience last year, they'll be ready for it."
