Mansfield Town

After a victory over Stevenage on home turf last Saturday, we were brought back down to earth with a bump as we lost 2-1 to Morecambe at the Globe Arena in midweek. 

“Going through the highs on Saturday to the lows on Tuesday is part of football,” said McGuire. “I think it’s mostly our fault. We didn’t take our chances on the night and we need to find some consistency. 

“The lads have been playing well, but we need to get back-to-back wins and that needs to start on Saturday against Northampton.”

He continued: “We have two home games coming up against two good teams. It’s going to be difficult, but there is a lot of positivity in the camp and I’m looking forward to the game.

After being thrown the captain’s armband just moments before last weekend’s match at home to ‘Boro, McGuire also revealed that he is enjoying being part of Adam Murray’s team, but lamented the unavailability of two of the squad’s most influential players.

“I’ve had to be patient,” added the 31-year-old. “I think that Chris Clements has been our best player and Ricky Ravenhill has been good too. It’s better for us to be going up the table. I’ve just had to wait for my chance.

“The style under Adam is different, but it was more of a battle against Stevenage, my kind of game. It took me a while to get into the game, but I felt I grew into it. I do have to adapt. The manager wants to play football and we all have to follow suit.”

Looking ahead to Saturday’s game, he said: “A few weeks ago, Northampton were down with us near the bottom of the table. It’s a strange league and it’s so tight. We need to find a platform of consistency of winning games and climb up the table.” 

“There are some massive games coming up and we have to get valuable points on the board.

“We have the players to do it and we will be working hard to put in a good performance against Northampton. This is a successful team and we just need to find that consistency.”