Mansfield Town manager Adam Murray heaped praise on strikers Matt Green and Adi Yussuf, whose goals helped us to a 3-1 win over Hartlepool United today.
Green’s brace, along with a thunderous strike by Adi Yussuf secured all three points for the Stags after Krystian Pearce’s own goal got Hartlepool a fortuitous equaliser before half-time.
The boss was delighted to see Green regain his golden touch in front of goal.
“I’m over the moon. When you’re somebody like Matt Green, people make it out to be worse than what it is," said Murray, speaking to the media after the win.
“The lad hasn’t played for two years [previously, because of injury]. He’s in his 18th game and we knew it was going to take time with Greeny. Everybody builds it up that Matt Green is the only one in the team who can score goals, for five games no one else has scored but nobody’s said anything about that.
“If you look at Greeny’s game over the past seventeen games, he’s been improving every week.”
After seeing the frontman take his tally for the season to six goals, Murray believed his striker needed one to go in ‘off his shin’ to build his confidence back up.
“Even though he’s a strong believer in his own ability, like we all are, he needed that little burst of confidence. The two goals were proper striker's goals, he kept getting in there today and he just needed that first one to come off his shin.
“He’s highly thought of in our league and the leagues above, not just for his goals but for his overall game. He’s a big part of our football team.”
The gaffer also had praise for Green’s strike partner, Adi Yussuf, who came on as a second half substitute and scored within two minutes to put the Stags ahead.
“Adi doesn’t surprise me. You look at Adi’s games, every time he’s come on he’s got a chance.
“Goals are going to come with Adi, goals are going to come with Greeny, [Craig] Westcarr’s got goals in him, [Chris] Beardsley’s been injured for a bit but he’s someone who gives us a different option - he can be the battering ram so the other boys to do the good stuff. I know I’ve got goals in my team.”
After celebrating a year in charge of the Stags, Murray, who has brought the club on leaps and bounds during his tenure, said: “We’re all learning, I’m a year into the job and I’d like to think I’ve brought the club on leaps and bounds.
“I think there’s a real togetherness [at the club]. There’s a real drive to stick together and be successful. Obviously the tactical and the technical side has changed a lot and we’ve moved at a rapid speed.
“We’ve got no given right to win any game, we almost got relegated last year. We need to keep perspective of who we are, we don’t get 9,000 [fans] every week, we haven’t got the resources to get 30 players that are League One standard so to be where we are, we’re blessed.”
You can view Murray's interview in full on Stags Player.
