Commanding centre-half Ryan Tafazolli paid credit to his team-mates after a well-earned 2-1 victory at York City today.
The 6ft 4in defender was an imposing figure in a Stags' back line which was rarely breached after York's sixth minute opener from Reece Thompson.
And Tafazolli, a contender for Man-of-the-Match reserved praise only for his team mates after the victory at Bootham Crescent, particularly Matt Green - the scorer of both goals.
"It was an excellent performance all round. We started very well and even though we conceded, [we] stuck to the game plan and dictated play in the first half," he said.
And Tafazolli, a contender for Man-of-the-Match reserved praise only for his team mates after the victory at Bootham Crescent, particularly Matt Green - the scorer of both goals.
"It was an excellent performance all round. We started very well and even though we conceded, [we] stuck to the game plan and dictated play in the first half," he said.
"A lot of credit has to go to Greeny (Matt Green). He works so hard daily and we joked during the week that his first goal would be a deflection and then they'd start coming along like London buses!
"His first was a bit of good fortune but with the second he really showed his class with a good finish after working hard to get the ball."
On his new defensive partner Krystian Pearce, Tafozolli said: "It's good to play with Pearcey, he makes it easier to play at the back and it's been a pleasure so far.
"I know if I miss anything he'll be round me there to sweep up because he's got very good pace. We understand each other very well.
"His first was a bit of good fortune but with the second he really showed his class with a good finish after working hard to get the ball."
On his new defensive partner Krystian Pearce, Tafozolli said: "It's good to play with Pearcey, he makes it easier to play at the back and it's been a pleasure so far.
"I know if I miss anything he'll be round me there to sweep up because he's got very good pace. We understand each other very well.
"I also think a lot of credit has to go to Adam Chapman, Chris Clements and Mitch Rose in front of us. Sometimes, the hard work they do goes unseen but they protect us really well. Collo's (Lee Collins) helped us a lot too. He's come back from injury and in training we've been pushing to perform good defensive partnerships.
"As you get to understand the people you're playing with the morale and team understanding increases every week. These players the gaffer (Adam Murray) has brought in are very good, and I think he deserves lot of credit because in the first half we must've strung together 15-20 passes in some passages of play
"Obviously when we went 2-1 up they were always going to put pressure on us but we showed our resilience towards the end and ground out a victory.
"It shows the togetherness and also the team spirit, which is massive this year.
"We're a tight-knit squad and it showed massively toward the end of the game. We all demanded a lot from each other and everyone came up with the goods."
"It shows the togetherness and also the team spirit, which is massive this year.
"We're a tight-knit squad and it showed massively toward the end of the game. We all demanded a lot from each other and everyone came up with the goods."
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