Mansfield Town

Our team, who currently sit in seventh position in the Sky Bet League table, earned a point from their home meeting with Bristol Rovers on Saturday.

Lee Stevenson’s first goal in the Football League put us on course for victory, but the Pirates levelled late on to earn a well-deserved share of the spoils.

“I’ve been very analytical of our performances of late. The two poor performances have been directly after we’ve played Chesterfield,” said our boss.

“There was an awful lot of energy that went into the two games with Chesterfield, and if you analyse Chesterfield’s results, they’ve almost mirrored ourselves.

“The players were pumped up, as were the supporters of both teams, and sometimes it can leave you feeling a little bit drained.

“After the first game, we had a few tired legs. The players are human beings and you can’t stop them getting tired or feeling emotion.

“Hindsight is a great thing. Should I have put a few extra fresh legs in on Saturday, or for the match against Hartlepool? Maybe.”

Cox added: “We’re 11 games into the season now and we’re sat in a Play-Off position. As a whole, the club needs to understand how far we’ve come in a very short space of time.

“We’ve still only lost two games out of 11 and that’s a massive ‘pat on the back’ to the players. What I’m looking for now is consistency in our performances and results.

“We need to raise the bar again and put together the kind of performances that we did in the early part of the season, but sometimes grind out results.

“What we’ve got to realise is who we are. We’ve just been promoted from the league below, so we’ve got no divine right to go and beat anybody.

“As long as we’re learning and improving as a football club, I’ll be happy, because we need to get our feet back firmly on the ground.

“We’ve had an excellent two years, nobody can deny that, but we need to earn the right to win football matches again.”

Our boss has also dismissed speculation printed in a tabloid newspaper this weekend, linking him with the current managerial vacancy at Sheffield United.

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Paul Cox is speaking to our Head of Media & Communications Mark Stevenson and the Chad's John Lomas at this morning's press meeting.

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“As far as I’m concerned, there’s been no contact from Sheffield United,” said Cox. “The only post I’m interested in at the present time is the one at Mansfield Town.

“It’s nice that people are talking about me and think that I’m doing a good job, but this is speculation and just that, so I’ll get my head down and keep trying to do a good job here.”

Meanwhile, Cox has also confirmed that midfielder Adam Murray has requested to have his loan spell at Rainworth Miners Welfare extended.

“Adam is back [at the club] for treatment on an injury, but he’s asked to have his loan extended,” said Cox.