Mansfield Town still underdogs at struggling Luton Town, says boss Adam Murray

Stags are sitting pretty in seventh place after last weekend’s 4-0 thrashing of Crawley Town, but Murray admitted: “With the battles we’ve had with them in the League and the Conference, we know what we are going into on Saturday.

“It will be a tough encounter and, even though they’ve probably not had the start they wanted, we will go there as underdogs and that suits us.

“But we are not going there to experience Luton Town. We are going there to put points on the board. That’s the whole focus and it has been all week.”

Although Stags have done well in recent seasons at Kenilworth Road, last season saw Stags well beaten 3-0 three games into Murray’s time as manager.

“We were a totally different outfit when we went there last year,” he said. “It was obviously early on in my reign. We go there this season in a different kind of light with a different kind of focus and we will be going there to put ourselves onto them.

“It’s a very tense place to go. As soon as you arrive there you feel the kind of atmosphere around the place. It’s brilliant and as a player I loved going there. Obviously I had a short spell with them and it is a great place to be involved in.

“But we are going there to try to upset the applecart and nothing less. We are in a confident mood. We are on a process I believe is going to be successful and we will be going there to put them on the back foot.

“It won’t be a case of going there and taking in the sights. We will be going there to add to our points total.

“It’s hostile, it’s tense, it’s a crowd that expects from the home side. But they can be a very strong 12th man, so it’s something you have to control down there in that environment and the game management is vitally important.

“We are not going there with fear. We are going there with positivity. We want to stay where we are in the League and push on from there.”

Murray firmly believes the Hatters in a false position right now and will go on to have a good season.

“100 per cent,” he said. “When you sit back and watch the games they’ve played so far, they have not played bad. They are playing well but sometimes in this game, as we know, you don’t get that slice of luck you deserve.

“They have put in some really good performances that I know John (manager Still) will believe they should have more points on the board than they’ve got.

“The League table lies in terms of their position at the minute because we have gone through their squad and their team this week and they have got some very good players. We haven’t kidded ourselves or let the lads believe we are going there to face a weak Luton Town side because they are extremely strong.

“But we will make the week and the preparation about us as we believe we are strong in what we do.”