Stags rally call by skipper

Mansfield Town skipper Ollie Clarke said Stags aim to end the season with all guns blazing as they look to end a run of eight games without victory at Stevenage on Saturday (12.30pm).
Mansfield's Ollie Clarke looks to find space away from Newport's Joe Ledley on Friday.Mansfield's Ollie Clarke looks to find space away from Newport's Joe Ledley on Friday.
Mansfield's Ollie Clarke looks to find space away from Newport's Joe Ledley on Friday.

Friday's 1-1 home draw with promotion-chasing Newport County saw frustration grow for Mansfield as they try to find the elusive victory that may all but end worries of being dragged into a relegation battle.

But, even if that win came on Saturday, Clarke assured fans no one would be taking their foot off the gas.

“We won’t rest until we’re mathematically safe,” he said. “But we don’t just want to win one game between now and the end of the season - we’ll look to get as many points on the board as possible in these final five games.

“The aim is to get mathematically safe as soon as possible so we’ll be going out to win every game.

“You look at the remaining games, and they are all winnable fixtures. For us, it’s a case of turning up and performing on the day.”

Clarke continued: “The way the gaffer sets us up, he never sets us up to go out and draw.

“We’re well within games, creating chances. We need that bit of ruthlessness in both boxes to get ourselves ahead in matches and not concede any at the other end.

“The gaffer has increased standards massively (since arriving as manager).

“We’ve turned it around from where we were, struggling quite badly beforehand.

“The way he sets us up and has the players fighting stands us well for the future.”

On the season in general, he said: “We could have done better overall.

“We know in ourselves we’ve let ourselves down on a couple of occasions. But our current form shows you we’re digging in and showing great character in matches, getting points in games where we’ve been behind and hanging on in others.

“These qualities are telling and have contributed to the points tally which will hopefully prove worthy at the end of the season as part of our ambition to secure safety.

“We’ll look to finish the season as strongly as possible.”

Kick-off for Saturday’s game has beeen brought forward to 12.30 to avoid clashing with the 3pm funeral of Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip.

Stags then host Scunthorpe United on Tuesday (7pm).

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