Mansfield Town

Defender John Dempster insists our excellent support on the road could play a big part in how we fare in our five remaining away matches this season, starting at relegation-threatened Northampton Town on Saturday.

Our team are set to be backed by yet another sizeable following at the Sixfields Stadium, and will be seeking to maintain their impressive away form.

We haven’t lost to a team currently outside the Play-Off positions on away territory this term, and a win this weekend will move us eight points clear of the drop zone.

“The fans have been brilliant all season, especially away from home, and long may that continue,” said Dempster. “They’ve been part of our decent away form and I think they’ll play a massive part for us between now and the end of the season.

On the match itself, he continued: “It’s a big game and we’ve got a lot of big games coming up. 

“Northampton are one of the in-form teams. They’ve got a new manager who has gone there and done a great job already to give them a chance of getting out of [the relegation zone].

“But we’re confident in our own form. We’re a decent side away from home, so it should be a good contest.”

The 31-year-old centre-back is keen for us to move on from Tuesday’s controversial 1-0 defeat to high-flying York City at One Call Stadium.

Ryan Bowman’s penalty on the half-hour mark gave the Minstermen maximum points, and Dempster added: “I didn’t think it was at the time and having seen it back, I still don’t think it’s a penalty.

“There was slight contact. I was round the other side of the player and he could have just carried on running – it was a nothing incident.

“You see incidents like that happen all the time and usually the referee waves play on, especially when the York players weren’t putting him under any pressure by appealing for it.

“It went against us, but that’s football sometimes, and we’ve got to move on quickly.”