Mansfield Town

Striker Rakish Bingham is relishing the prospect of facing former club Hartlepool United this weekend, should he shake off an injury in time for the match.

The 21-year-old came off the bench to score the decisive goal in our midweek victory over AFC Wimbledon, but picked up a knock in doing so, which means he could now be a doubt for the game at Victoria Park.

“I was delighted to get the match-winner and help push us forward,” said Bingham. “I came on for 15 or 16 minutes and the thrill to get the winning goal is all that matters. 

“I think the substitutions have been vital over the last few games. Everyone in the camp has brought a positive vibe and an impact to the team and us three coming off the bench on Tuesday helped [the result].”

The youngster continued: “The gaffer and ourselves were all hurting over the Bury performance, because we know that we’re better than that. So we made sure as a team that after that result, we worked hard to put things right.

“It will go down to the wire for who gets relegated and who stays up, but I feel that as a team we need to focus on ourselves and not look too much at which teams are down below us or which teams are around us [in the league table].

“As long as we keep picking up points and doing well as a team then I see us having no worries.”

Speaking about his current knock, which seemed to occur after he was pushed towards the ball just seconds before hitting the winner, he said: “I took the momentum into it and my hip is still sore. I thought ‘Where did I get that bump from?’ but looking back at the video I can see why.”

Reflecting on his one-month loan spell at Hartlepool earlier this season, he said: “I had a great time there. I made some good friends there and had a good relationship with the manager (Ronnie Moore) as well as the fans.

“I had a feeling that they were going to get some results and push up [towards a safe league position] and my feeling was right. That’s the feeling I had leaving the camp there.

The striker added: “It’s going to be an interesting game, but I’m going to put my personal stuff aside and focus on our team and hopefully we can get a win there.”