Manager Paul Cox insists that he won’t tolerate any members of his squad ‘looking beyond’ our hectic festive schedule, which begins with a trip to mid-table Hyde tomorrow.
The Stags defeated Lincoln City over a week ago to set-up a mouth-watering FA Cup Third Round clash against Liverpool, but have four league games before our clash with Brendan Rodgers’ side on Sunday 06 January.
Nicky Law’s Alfreton Town and high-flying Grimsby Town are both set to visit One Call Stadium after Christmas, before our festive schedule concludes with a trip to Alfreton’s Impact Arena on New Year’s Day.
“We’ve got to make sure we’re properly focussed, because I’m not going to tolerate people looking beyond these next few league games,” said our boss.
“I think we’ve got some massive games coming up. If players want to relax and think that the Liverpool game is just there for them, then they’ll find themselves out in the cold.
“We now need to level out and get back now to being focussed and concentrating on the league games, which is the most important aspect of our season.
He continued: “The gap [between our last game and the next one] has given the lads a little bit of time to level out, and I think that’s been a real positive thing.
“We’ve got [Ryan] Tafazolli who should be due back soon. Ross Dyer should also be running soon as well and Adam Murray looks as if he’s getting stronger after his viral infection.”
Despite enduring a sluggish start to the campaign, Scott McNiven’s Hyde have won six of their last nine games, and will provide a stern test for our side at Ewen Fields tomorrow.
Cox added: “They’ve got some good players and have a lad [Phil Jevons] sitting near the top of the goalscoring charts, so it will be a real tough game.”
