Mansfield Town

The 26-year-old, who has recently served a three-match suspension, returned to our starting line-up in our loss to Chesterfield in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy in midweek.

“It was a bad result and a bad performance last Saturday (against Hartlepool United), so we’ve got to get back to winning ways,” said Riley.

“I hope we put that right on Tuesday night (against Chesterfield). 

“We didn’t win but I thought we played well. We were pretty decent at the back. It was a soft goal to concede but I was fairly happy with the game.

“If we perform like that again on Saturday, I’m sure we’ll get a result.”

Riley continued: “It was a long three-and-a-half week suspension, with no midweek games. It dragged on, so I was buzzing to be back out there.

“I was gutted to miss the first game at Chesterfield, but there wasn’t much I could do. Tuesday was a spicy affair to say the least. I was gutted to lose, but I’m glad I experienced it.”

Riley is also confident that our team can finish in the upper echelons of the Sky Bet League Two table this term, but refused to be drawn on making any predictions.

“At the start of the season, some fans said that just to stay in League Two would be an achievement,” added the centre-back.

“But, as a group of players, we think we are a lot better than that. It has showed in the first 10 games that we are a lot better than just staying up. That would be an under-achievement.

“We haven’t set any targets, but we would like to stay where we are now, and I think we have got the squad to do it.”

“We just want to win every game we play in. Everyone could tell we want to win on Tuesday night. It’s important now that we put in a good performance on Saturday.”