Manager Paul Cox insists that there is ‘more to come’ from our players ahead of tomorrow night’s re-arranged Sky Bet League Two match with Bury.
Matt Rhead’s headed winner earned us an impressive 1-0 win over promotion hopefuls Fleetwood Town last Saturday, which took us to within four points of eighth-placed Newport County.
Should our team record what would be a third straight home success when David Flitcroft’s men visit North Nottinghamshire, we could jump as high as 11th position.
“I still think there’s loads more to come from us – that’s the ‘frightening’ thing,” said Cox. “As a group of players and as a football club, we’re always learning about this division and the step-up.
“You can tell that the players are learning now and they’re starting to understand the fundamentals of competing at this level.
“They’re a great bunch of lads who are working extremely hard for this football club. Nobody can say that we’re not creating chance after chance, but I still want us to be a little bit more ruthless.
“We’re four points off eighth place and nine points off the relegation zone, but that’s still not good enough and I want to push these boys on and finish as high up the table as we possibly can.”
Tomorrow’s clash could well be another closely-fought contest and Bury will be full of confidence, having boosted their survival ambitions with a 1-0 victory at AFC Wimbledon on Saturday.
Looking ahead, Cox said: “It’ll be another tough game and it’s what League Two is all about. Bury are in the same position as us in terms of wanting to maintain their status in this league.
“They’ve had some good results of late. We’ve been to see them a couple of times and they’re a good side, so it’ll be another tough game and one where we can’t take our foot of the pedal.”
Meanwhile, our boss also reflected on the 1-0 victory over Fleetwood. He added: “I thought we played well. We passed the ball really well, created a number of chances and it was a great result for us.
“Our hunger and desire was there. The boys understand what is expected [of them] at home. Our form of late, both home and away, has been excellent.
“It was nice to play well and put in a good performance, but even better to get the three points because I think it lifted a little bit of a cloud. Everything was positive about the day.
“But now I’m looking for consistency in our performance and consistency in our results. We’ll see building into Tuesday[‘s game] if we can re-produce that form.”
Finally, we have no fresh injury worries ahead of tomorrow's match. James Jennings (quad), Martin Riley (calf), Louis Briscoe (back spasm) and Jake Speight (knee) are our absentees.
A full interview with Paul Cox will be available on Stags Player later today. To subscribe, click here.
