Stags’ manager Adam Murray has reiterated his wish for his side to remain undefeated throughout the remainder of the campaign following the 1-1 draw with Barnet this afternoon.
Striker Mani Dieseruvwe scored his first goal for the club to cancel out John Akinde’s opener for the Bees during a hard-fought draw at One Call Stadium.
And although other results mathematically ended the Stags’ play-off hopes, the manager still aims to finish the season strongly after his side’s fourth game without defeat.
“Overall, we haven’t been beat. [It’s] frustrating because I felt we did enough to win it but you look elsewhere in the league and the teams that we probably needed to slip up have won,” Murray said.
“The players have done great and it’s not over yet – we’ve got six points to play for so if we don’t finish seventh, we want to finish eighth and that’s our aim from now.
“We want to finish the season on a high, we want to finish the season unbeaten and that’s our aim.”
After the Stags fell behind to John Akinde’s header after six minutes this afternoon, loanee Mani Dieseruvwe produced a lovely finish to score his first goal since joining on loan from Chesterfield, and the gaffer praised the forward, as well as midfielder Adam Chapman, who was awarded the sponsors’ Man-of-the-Match.
“[It was] a great finish by Mani. I thought he played well. He’s a young lad [with] lots of potential and lots to learn, but it was a great finish.
“I’m over the moon for Chappy (Adam Chapman). He’s done that now for the last four games and for the fans to give him the recognition of that [was pleasing].
“I’m proud of the fans to be honest because sometimes it’s tough to 'bite the bullet' when you’ve been giving someone ‘stick’. So fair play to them, they all shouted his name when he was coming off.”
Speaking post-match, Barnet boss Martin Allen said our boss is ‘one of the brightest managers about with a bright future in the game’, and Murray was touched by the former Notts County man’s comments.
“Coming from someone who’s hit milestone after milestone in his career as a manager, that’s given me shivers down my spine to be honest with you. That’s a lovely comment. I said before the game yesterday that he’s someone that I watch even when we’re not playing them because of his charisma.
“I know a lot of people that have worked under him, a lot of people who are close to me, and every one of them speaks highly of him - of not just his managerial skills but his people skills as well, so to get that comment from someone like him is superb.”
With the Sky Bet League 2 play-off positions now out of reach for Murray’s men, the boss reflected on what has caused the Stags to fall just short this season.
“I think the month killed us, of March, that killed us. I think all we needed from that was probably a win to keep the flame alive and a couple of wins would’ve been great and we should’ve got them.
“I think personally, as a manger, I chased the results too much in that month. We should’ve stuck to the process, like I keep saying, and that’s my learning curve. And I think as players, our decision-making at times has let us down.”
Supporters can view Adam Murray’s post-match interview on Stags Player HD.
