Lincoln City draw was a point gained and not two dropped says Mansfield Town skipper Krystian Pearce

Mansfield Town skipper Krystian Pearce said tonight’s 1-1 home draw with leaders Lincoln City was a point gained as it put Stags back into the top three and their promotion chances back in their own hands.
Mansfield Town v Lincoln City.
Stags first half goal.Mansfield Town v Lincoln City.
Stags first half goal.
Mansfield Town v Lincoln City. Stags first half goal.

Pearce put Stags ahead after only three minutes, but City levelled through a John Akinde penalty with 15 minutes to go.

“Overall I think it was a good performance and we have to look at it as a point gained and not two points dropped,” said Pearce.

“The big thing for us tonight was to get back in the top three. It’s in our hands and all we can do is focus on what we do.

“We feel like we are going to finish the season strongly.

“Obviously to concede the way we did is a bit disappointing, but we have to take the positives and we are back in the top three now.

“We have eight games now to finish off the job.”

Pearce headed in from a third minute corner routine and said: “To get an early goal set the tempo for the game and we tried to build from that.

“I was a little bit surprised I got that much space in the box. Obviously we worked on our set pieces for the game and it worked for us today.”

But City roared back for a deserved point and Pearce added: “They are top of the league for a reason.

“They are a strong team and hard to play against but we matched them throughout the game. Unfortunately we couldn’t get the three points.

“We take pride in our defensive record so it was disappointing to concede.

“With the magnitude of the game everyone was up for it and I think the boys showed great character and desire.”