Stags’ boss Adam Murray says he wants side to express themselves more after seeing them held to a 1-1 draw by Wycombe Wanderers at One Call Stadium this afternoon.
Chairboys’ midfielder Matt Bloomfield slotted the ball past Scott Shearer to give the away side a 1-0 lead at the break, before striker Matt Green came off the bench to hammer home an equaliser in front of the North Stand.
The manager introduced Green, who had been struggling with an illness at the beginning of the week, along with fellow substitutes Jack Thomas and Darius Henderson to the action, and speaking after the game he said: “The game was there for us today - if we wanted it for the [first] 60 minutes like we did for the last 30, we win that game.
“I thought Hendo (Darius Henderson) came on again and made the difference but if I’m from the age of 18 to 25, 26, 27, I had fire, I had hunger, don’t get me wrong I was a ‘whapper’ and I was a bit of a lunatic but I wanted to win at everything I did and we shouldn’t have to rely on 30-plus people coming on to change the game.
“They’ve come on, they’ve put themselves around, 'beat people up' and got us in the game and once we got a foothold in the game, then we started to play a little bit. I keep saying to the boys, take the ropes off and go and play and go and express yourself and let yourself go.
“We need men, it’s League Two. We all want to play the romantic game and we want to win by playing this fantastic game of football – nobody more than me, as a player I hated having to hook it on and to do the nasty side, but it’s League Two. It’s about knowing what’s effective, what gets you points on the board [and] how to put teams under stress.”
Focussing on the positives from today’s match, Murray praised the home contingent inside One Call Stadium for their support, and also expressed his pleasure at seeing Jack Thomas make his first appearance of the season following a long injury lay-off.
“I thought they were outstanding today.
“I was getting angry on the side because there was no life [in the game] but they kept going, the drum kept going, they kept singing and I think at the end, the reaction they showed there, that’s what we need.
“We need to get him (Jack Thomas) up to match sharpness, we need to get him up to that tempo that he needs to play at. When he’s there it will be like having a new signing, he gives us that legs, he cares, he’s put a couple on a plate today when he’s come on and that’s what he does.”
Supporters can now view Adam Murray’s post-match interview on Stags PlayerHD.
