Mansfield Town manager Adam Murray said his players 'gave him everything' during the draw against Portsmouth at One Call Stadium this afternoon.
A battling display saw Stags earn a 1-1 draw against the South Coast side after Ryan Tafazolliâs own goal just before half-time cancelled out Matt Greenâs opener. The home side also had goalkeeper Scott Shearer to thank for saving Marc McNultyâs first-half penalty after he was upended by full-back Daniel Alfei.Â
After three consecutive 1-0 defeats to Newport County, Yeovil Town and Bristol Rovers in recent weeks, the boss praised his players for the way they bounced back against promotion-chasing Pompey.
âIt was a very tough game against a very, very good side, but I thought we more than matched them. At times theyâre going to put you under pressure, theyâve got excellent players, but I thought the boys today were superb.
âThe biggest thing for me today was a performance. I think when youâve had the defeats that weâve had â and theyâve been hard to take â youâve got to stop that sequence and to do it against a team and a club like that, it takes extra effort,â Murray continued.
âThe next step for us is consistency and when we get that, weâll be a very good side and we showed that today. For the boys to play with that belief that they did today, I take my hat off to them, because after three defeats, itâs tough to go into a game and say: âoh Iâm confident nowâ â it doesnât work like that.â
Talisman Matt Green scored his 12th goal of the season to give Stags a 26th-minute lead and he was assisted by new loan signing Emmanuel Dieseruvwe, who the manager described as âexcellentâ.Â
âConsidering heâs not had much first team game-time recently, itâs tough. It doesnât matter how many reserve games you play, to go straight into the first team tempo, itâs hard.Â
âFor him to last the game like he did and to put himself about like he did, if weâre being honest, he made that little bit of a difference, didnât he? When it went forwards, at times, it stuck. He made some good decisions, he helped Greeny (Matt Green) out and itâs all part of our learning curve.
âGreeny is an instinctive player. He needs to play without a lot in his head. Heâs somebody whoâs always looking for a chance and at times this season, [it's] probably 'my bad' at times, Iâve asked him to do a job which is probably not his game and heâs had to do that for the team.â
The gaffer also praised goalkeeper Scott Shearer for his third penalty save of the season and admitted that there are a number of factors which help him make such saves: âOne â Scott being an excellent goalkeeper. Two â him having an excellent coach in Brian [Jensen] and somebody whoâs pushing him, and three, us having an excellent analysis team.Â
âI wish I could take the credit for it, but I canât! Them guys (the analysts) are brilliant and theyâve proved all season that an investment in that area and stuff like the sport science, it makes a difference.Â
âWeâve got a small squad and very rarely have we suffered a big number of injuries, very rarely have we got decisions wrong that have come from the analysis team, thatâs their hard work and credit to the football club for making that next step and now weâve got to look towards the next step.â
You can view Adam Murrayâs full post-match interview on Stags Player.Â