Stags’ boss Adam Murray has praised his players for the 'very good point' they picked up away at Hartlepool United this afternoon.
A game of few chances ended goalless in the North East and the closest either side came to breaking the deadlock was when Pools had a second half effort ruled out for offside.
And Murray says he is pleased to leave Hartlepool with a point this evening and believes the players deserve credit for the way they've performed recently, despite the number of injuries in the squad.
“To come away from home and get a clean sheet and pick a point up, you take that,” Murray said.
"To be ninth in the league at the minute, we’ll take that. I revert back to, we have to keep understating that yes we want success but everybody else does in this league as well.
"You look at the top seven at the minute and it’s all the big hitters, and we’ve got to break that, which is going to be a tough job.
"We’re full of confidence; we keep saying it but it’s a credit to the boys with the 'disjointment' we’ve had, the inconsistency of being able to pick a continuous team, stick with a continuous system, stick with a continuous way of playing and we’ve still managed to be ninth in the league at the minute."
The 34-year-old Stags’ chief revealed to the press post-match that midfielder Adam Chapman has left the club today by mutual consent and Murray says it is a fresh start for both parties.
“It was just one of them situations where I sat with Chappy, it’s been tough for me, I’ve known the kid for 12 years, 13 years, and we just felt it wasn’t working.
“I think he’s somebody that he needs to play with confidence, he needs an environment where he can express himself.
“So we looked at it and we had a conversation, us and him, as a football club and an individual, and came to an agreement that it was best that we went our separate ways and [have] a fresh start for both of us.”
The manager also revealed that striker Matt Green is close to signing a contract extension at the club after Stags turned down a bid for the frontman during the summer transfer window.
“If I’m being totally open and honest with everything at the minute, as a group, the staff, we spoke with the senior boys, we feel like the start of the season’s been very bitty and bobby and disjointed for us. With injuries and stuff that’s going on off the pitch that’s affected the group, it’s affected the staff, we kind of drew a line under that yesterday.
“Part of that was Greeny’s situation – that’s thrown the group left, right and centre and Matt’s the first one to admit that before today, that the last few games since Leyton Orient, he hasn’t been himself and we’ve missed that.
“But that got sorted this week; I think Matt’s just about to extend his contract now so we’ve put that to bed, which is a massive thing for the group.
“He’s had a tough week this week because he’s been trying to sort it out and get it done and dusted. We're thankful for the chairman for helping us sort it and getting it done and we move on.”
Supporters will be able to view Adam Murray's post-match interview on Stags PlayerHD later this evening.
