Evtimov delighted with praise from Stags boss Murray after ‘best ever’ display

The Stags lost Rob Taylor to a 32nd minute red card but then took the lead through Vadaine Oliver on 47 minutes and, thanks to a brilliant display from Forest loanee Evtimov and some great defending, hung on for a memorable victory.

“That is such a compliment, especially coming from the gaffer,” said Evtimov.

“I tried my best to keep a clean sheet and am very happy with the win.

“You just don’t think about it, even when the ball has hit you in the face, it was probably the best I have ever played in my career.

“It is down to a lot of hard work and a little bit of talent.

“Of course I would like to stay here longer if I am wanted. I would love to play more games and help the team.

“I now want to keep my jersey and hopefully help us win more games.”

Skipper Jamie McGuire turned in a real captain’s performance and smiled: “I never got booked so that’s a first. I was trying to calm the lads down.

“To dig in like that, I am so proud of the lads – the way we defended. We worked our socks off.

“You don’t realise how much character we showed today, some of the lads have had flu all week.

“I think we were the better team with 10 men and created chances. They were always going to throw the kitchen sink at us in the last 10 minutes. But we defended superbly and Dimitar was superb in goal.

“That has got to be the best result of the season as now we can kick on.”