Mansfield Town

Boss speaks about challenging campaign in final press conference this term.

Manager Adam Murray was in a reflective mood at his press conference this morning – ahead of tomorrow’s Sky Bet League Two season finale away at Accrington Stanley.

Our boss highlighted the defeat at Carlisle United – a result which saw us slip into the relegation zone for the only time – as a turning point in our campaign.

“It’s been frustrating and disappointing this season,” said Murray. “When we dropped into the bottom two [after the defeat] at Carlisle, we understood how hard the fight was going to be.

“At the time we set the targets, because the realisation of relegation was there for everyone to see, so we had to focus the boys on targets. If we would have failed, it would have had a disastrous effect on the football club.”

He continued: “We looked at things and because we knew the group so well, we knew the situation that we were in with our ingredients, our financial state this season, and we knew that everything was coming up against us.


One by one: Adam Murray reveals the sign used to chalk off the wins required for survival

“Before the Stevenage game, we set out a minimum of what we needed to achieve. On Saturday, we’ll complete that if we get the seventh win. I think on average it was one [victory] in three [games] that we knew we had to get, but it should have been a lot more than that.

“That’s been the frustrating thing about it. We’ve literally taken it to the wire when it could have been a lot more comfortable, but that is why we’ve finished where we have [in the table] and why there are wholesale changes needed in the summer.”

Looking ahead to what is expected to be a busy summer, Murray continued: “It’s not a nice time for the players, for me, or for the football club at the minute, because it’s an uncertain time which is never good.

“The thing that I won’t allow to effect this summer is any sentiment in the fact that I’ve been in the group and I’ve battled with certain individuals for a long time. It’s about what’s best for the football club and I’ve got to do everything that I can over the summer to make sure that we don’t go through this again.”

Despite a turbulent season with many different challenges, our team will still be eager to end the season on a high by picking up a good result at Accrington.

Reflecting on the build up to tomorrow’s game, our boss said: “It’s been a tricky week to be honest, because all of our footballers’ heads are wondering at the minute and they want to know what’s happening with their futures.

“As with anybody, not just in football but in life itself, if you’re wondering where your next pay packet is coming from or how you’re going to pay your mortgage and support your kids, it’s tough. So, taking away the football aspect of it, the situation hasn’t been ideal this week.”

He added: “It’s been a tricky week, but we go into the last game of our season looking to complete our whole targets which we set out to do a few months ago.”

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