Stags’ boss Adam Murray says his side will be going in to the Emirates FA Cup tie with Plymouth Argyle with a ‘fully focussed view’ to progress to round two.
We were drawn at home to the Pilgrims in last night’s Emirates FA Cup first round draw and the tie will be played on 05 November, with a 3.00pm kick-off.
And after making no secret of the fact that he sees the other cup competitions – the EFL Cup and the Checkatrade Trophy – as a distraction from the Sky Bet League Two campaign, Murray admits that the country’s oldest cup competition is one which he wants to progress in.
“This is one we want to do well in, not just for obviously financial reasons, it can be beneficial if you do well in it, but for the history and I think the passion the cup brings for the game,” Murray said.
“It’s one of them where as a player and as a manager you want to succeed in so we’ll be going in to this with a fully focussed view to get in to the next round.”
Last season, Stags were knocked out of the competition after being defeated 2-0 in a first round replay by League One side Oldham Athletic at Boundary Park after holding them to a 0-0 draw at One Call Stadium.
Although Murray views the cup tie as ‘a tough draw’, the manager says it’s a game which he believes his side can win and is different to their first round matches over previous years.
“I think the first round can go one or two ways. I think we’ve had draws where we’ve faced good League One opposition, which is always a tough draw to get through, or we’ve had the opposite where we’ve [got a] non-league [club] and it’s a banana skin.
“[It’s a] good draw, obviously a tough game but we’ll go in to it at home, looking to win the game and progress.”
Meanwhile, in other news, the 35-year-old confirmed that he has banned the use of mobile phones at the club after hinting that he would after Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Wycombe Wanderers.
“That wasn’t just the emotions talking. I do think it’s a valid point of the way, not just football, but society is at the minute. I think all of us, we’re all guilty, we get lost in this technology world now and we forget the actual core values of human beings.
“We had a ban on phones in certain times anyway – players weren’t allowed to be on their phones because they have to talk to each other. We 'go to war' with each other every weekend, so the communication needs to be high, the value of understanding personalities needs to be high, so instead of it just being in certain times, now we’ve put a complete stop on it.”
Supporters can now watch Adam Murray’s news conference, in full, on Stags PlayerHD.
