Mansfield Town

Sharp-shooter in buoyant mood ahead of Oxford match

Mansfield Town’s top scorer Vadaine Oliver believes the Stags may have turned a positive corner after our impressive victory over Luton Town in mid-week.

Having scored six goals in 16 league appearances, Oliver was full of praise for his team mates as they showed great character to overcome John Still's high-fliers to acquire all three points. 

“It was a huge three points for us, epecially after last Saturday [against Northampton] when we ran the game and it got taken away from us at the death," said Oliver.

“To bounce back and put in a great performance was massive for us,” he added.

After an inconsistent period of results over the past few weeks, the striker admitted: “Two or three weeks ago it wasn’t errors by the team or being opened up by anyone, it was just some individual things. Set pieces were killing us. We have been working hard to eradicate that from our game.

“We looked strong defensively on Tuesday night.”

The Stags have had a busy run of fixtures recently and the 23-year old admitted that it has been a challenge: “There have been a lot of games and it has taken a lot out of the boys, including myself. We have stuck together as a group and we’re showing on the pitch that we are together. We’re not winning every game we should be, but we are putting in good performances and now we can go on, get the points and move up the table.”

Commenting on his own feats in front of goal this season, Oliver said: “I want to keep up my goal scoring ratio and get into double figures. For me, the personal accolade of getting on the scoresheet is great, but I want to win and getting the three points is massive.

“The best strikers not only score goals but also provide goals. For me, that is what I want to achieve. I have good players around me and want to get them goals too.

“The main things about coming here and get back to playing again and enjoying my football. Adam Murray has given me a new lease on life. It’s given me the confidence in my ability again and the trust he has given to me has been massive.”

As the team prepares for the trip south to play Oxford United on Saturday, Oliver recognised the continued importance of picking up points against teams in a similar position: “We have performed excellent recently, but this next run of games is against teams around our area [in the table]. I think we just need to keep performing how we have been.”

To hear more from Vadaine Oliver head to Stags Player.