Stags’ new defender David Mirfin believes the club has the potential to climb the EFL ladder and is excited to be a part of the future.
The 32-year-old former Scunthorpe man put pen-to-paper on a deal at One Call Stadium earlier today and in turn became Stags’ ninth signing of the summer.
And Mirfin is impressed by the club’s ambition and believes the Stags have the potential to ascend the divisions.
“When you’ve seen other clubs do it – going up from non-league into the Championship in the space of three or four years – as an outsider looking in, you’re always thinking it would have been great to be part of that,” Mirfin said.
“I think this is one club that could certainly match what those clubs have done in the last few years and to be part of that is really exciting and I’m looking forward to it.
“Dropping down [a division] was never an issue for me. But if I did it, I wanted to go to a club with ambition to get out of the league and as soon as I spoke to the manager here and he spoke about where he wanted the club to go, it was probably the only one real option that I wanted to go down.”
The former Huddersfield Town defender has three promotions on his CV and he has described the components he believes are essential to succeed in League Two.
“I think probably one thing is having the right blend of having experience and youth. I think that’s really important to have that right mix.
“On top of that, I’d probably say consistency – I think that’s the big thing. I think if you can get players week-in-week-out getting seven or eight out of ten, that is going to win you games.
“I’ve been promoted twice out of League Two and it’s getting a tough league but the season I had last year, I want to carry that on and I want to be [in the] play-offs and if not higher.”
Many within the football world were somewhat surprised to see Mirfin not offered a new deal by former club Scunthorpe and now the Sheffield-born defender is looking forward to competing for a place in the middle of the Stags’ defence next season.
“The manager’s not guaranteed me a place, I’ve got to earn that place first and that’s for every player in every position.
“I think if you’ve got that level of competition, there’s only 11 lads that can start a game, you’re going to have lads that are disappointed but if they can use that disappointment in the right way to push themselves in training and push the lads that are starting, that’s only going to raise that level of performance.”
Supporters will be able to watch David Mirfin’s exclusive first club interview on Stags PlayerHD later today.
