Mansfield Town

A brace from midfielder Chris Clements and a goal for striker Pat Hoban sealed a brilliant 3-1 victory for the Stags, despite defender Rhys Bennett’s late own goal to reduce the arrears for Crawley. 

And the new manager was pleased with the hard work of his players and wants that to continue at training tomorrow and beyond. 

“The boys have worked extremely hard today, that’s the minimum we ask [for] and we’re pleased with some of the things and we’re unhappy with some of the other things but when you say you’re unhappy, that’s learning points for all of us,” Evans said.

“For us as staff, we’re still learning about the players. Any manager who goes in to a new football club who’s going to work for some terrific owners, you work hard and you try and earn your rewards and that’s the reward for the spectators today and the players, they’re the two parties, and the chairman and the chief exec I’m really pleased for. 

“We’ll go back on the training ground tomorrow and we’ll work hard.”

Brace-grabber Chris Clements, who was also named as Stags’ captain for today’s game, and front two Pat Hoban and Matt Green were singled out by the manager for their performances at One Call Stadium this afternoon.

“The message is we believe we’ve got people who will get a goal in the team and sometimes confidence plays a big part in that. We’ve got the captain who will break in to the box but I thought the front two were on every blade of grass today and probably deserved a goal or two each, but it didn’t happen for them.

“One of the things we spoke to young Chris Clements about was getting in to the box and losing runners and how he lost the runners. If people watch the goals back later tonight, you’ll see how he’s lost his runners; he’s made some clever runs and that’s just a little bit of work we did with him on the training ground yesterday.”

Away from the playing field, the former Rotherham United manager thanked the club’s supporters for their warm welcome on his first matchday as Stags’ boss. 

“They must have thought I was the messiah today when I arrived today, such was the way that people have received me and spoke to me and all I know is that what they’ll get is what Leeds United got, Rotherham and Crawley Town of course, is you’re going to get someone who lives and breathes it every minute of every day and my evening will be spent by doing the analysis that we work on for Tuesday and breaking today’s game down. 

“That’s my job, that’s what the supporters can pay their money and demand that the manager and the staff does that, but let the players enjoy it and enjoy their evening and back on the training ground tomorrow.”

Supporters can view Steve Evans’ post-match interview on Stags PlayerHD.