David Flitcroft pays tribute to Mansfield Town fans ahead of Port Vale trip

The Stags will be backed by around 1,000 fans at Port Vale on Saturday as Flitcroft's men aim to maintain their promotion push.

And it's that kind of support, and the rapport he has with the club's fans, that leave the manager glowing in his praise.

He said: "To sell that many tickets is brilliant. We had the offers on at the One Call and a lot of people took advantage of that and we’ve repaid them with three good results at home.

“We’ve got to make sure we represent those fans and that the 900-1,000 fans that go to Port Vale see the best of us and that we commit to everything we do, as the players have been doing all week.

“The support all season at home and away has been amazing. At our last home game we let our fans down and we have to right those wrongs.

“I love working here. The fans I’ve met are very honest – they tell you when it’s bad which I don’t mind – but when you get it right and when fans realise it’s not just three points but good football they’re seeing, that pleases me.

“The leagues and players are getting better right down to League Two and the fans are coming to games optimistic. We score a lot of late goals and that keeps the optimism high.

“There’s a great backing here and you can feel it behind you.”

Flitcroft expects a tough encounter at Vale Park despite Saturday's opponents being just above the League Two relegation zone.

He said: "It will be tough. There are no bankers – there are a lot of teams going for promotion and the play-offs and the dogfight at the bottom of the league is evident. That’s what League Two represents in that every team in every game has a chance of getting three points.

“Vale have had a manager change and John Askey, who did a phenomenal job at Macclesfield on the resources he had, has come in and there has been a bit of a wrestle period where he’s worked out his squad, what his team should look like and they were dominant against Notts County last week.

“They’ve found a formula they believe works for them so we’ve looked at that and will try and combat it with what we’ve got and the quality of play we’ve got in our team, which we’ll focus on this week.”