Pearce & Co look to put distance between themselves and play-off chasers

Krystian Pearce and Mansfield Town travel down to Exeter looking to maintain their good run of form and also take three points from one of the teams fighting to get into the League Two play-offs.
Krystian PearceKrystian Pearce
Krystian Pearce

The Stags are in good spirits following a rise up the table in recent weeks, topped with Tuesday night’s hammering of Newport County, in a stretch of form which has seen them lose just one in 11 league games.

Confidence is high on and off the pitch as Steve Evans’ men sit fifth in the table - three points off third place and four points clear of Saturday’s opponents Exeter City, just outside the play-off picture in eighth.

“It’s going to be a very tough game,” said Pearce looking ahead to the trip to Exeter. “I think they’re beatable, we’re in good form and spirits are high. I see no reason why we can’t go down there and get three points.”

And added: “I think they’ll be a promotion rival come the end of the season. They’re near enough up there every year. It’s going to be a tough game but I’m confident we can get the three points.”

Their confidence was undoubtedly boosted in Tuesday night’s 5-0 victory over Newport at the One Call Stadium - and Pearce revealed that home form has been something Evans has been keen to improve since taking the manager’s job.

“When the gaffer first came in he said we need to be very solid at home. This needs to be like a warzone for other teams when they come here. We’ve tried to make sure we keep our home form very good,” said Pearce, who predicts a tight finish in the race for promotion this season.

“It’s very tight at the top so we need to keep getting the points on the board and hope others slip up.

“Hopefully we can continue what we’ve been doing. We’ve not lost many games this season and we just need to draw a little bit less and turn those points into three points and end up in that top three,” he added.