Stags’ goalkeeper Scott Shearer says the squad have embraced the change in manager as they work hard to impress new boss Steve Evans.
Shearer bagged four promotions during his time under the manager at Crawley Town and Rotherham United and is pleased to be working with his former manager once more.
The Glaswegian shot-stopper says the Stags' squad are enjoying training and are all working hard to impress the manager.
“The lads have taken to them (the coaching staff) so well and embraced the changes. They have come in and talked about the different styles. It’s a work in progress at the moment – they’re changing things over," Shearer said.
“The lads really enjoy training every single day now, and it’s good to be out there because there’s lot of football and hard work. But when it’s enjoyable, you can’t complain.”
Shearer believes the decision to appoint the former Crawley Town boss as the club’s manager was a shrewd move as they look to launch a promotion challenge in the second half of the season.
“Obviously I was delighted [when Steve Evans was appointed as the new manager], not just for me but for the club, because I have enjoyed working under the gaffer for the three-and-a-half years I was with him.
“He (Steve Evans) has helped me personally as a player. For the club, especially with the record that he has got, the chairman has made a choice that he wants to get us up the leagues, and who else could you really call upon?
“He puts a lot of trust in his players, and honesty is the main thing with the gaffer. If you really work hard for him and give him everything, he knows that.
“The biggest thing of working under the gaffer is that you can’t rest on a good performance and then think ‘we’ll take it a bit easier this week’ – no chance! That is the way it works, and that’s why I had so much success under him previously.”
Shifting focus onto the Stags’ performances so far this term, the 35-year-old goalkeeper pin-pointed several key improvements the side can make to aid their quest for a top-seven finish.
“With League Two, everyone can see that it’s anyone’s league. Anyone can beat anyone. It’s so annoying, because you go into every game feeling that you can actually gain something from each game.
“When we’ve been coming away from these games with nothing, yet dominating so much of these games, it’s hard at times to keep going. But that’s what we are paid to do, and that’s what we have got to do.”
The ex-Wycombe Wanderers stopper says the Stags need to be better in both boxes in order to be successful during the second half of the season.
“[We’ve] not scored enough goals and we’ve conceded far too many, in my opinion. So it’s just something as a whole team that we need to do better – it is not just the strikers to score goals – it is midfielders and defenders scoring from set-plays.
“You set targets at the start of the season and to be part of a promotion-winning side, I have always thought you need 20-plus clean sheets as a goalkeeper.”
Supporters can view Scott Shearer’s news conference, in full, on Stags PlayerHD.
