Mansfield Town manager Steve Evans dubbed the travelling Stags' faithful of 1,565 fans as 'tremendous' following their unequivocal support in our superb 1-0 win over Coventry City this afternoon.
Winger Alex MacDonald hit a 30-yard winner six minutes from time at the Ricoh Arena as Stags deservedly emerged as winners from an entertaining contest.
A season-high away following of 1,565 Stags' fans made the trip to Warwickshire and the gaffer was incredibly impressed by their fervent support.
"I didn't wait for him [the referee] at the end of the game, I went to the supporters because if that was the best away performance – or one of them – for the season so far, and we'll get better, that was by far the best Mansfield Town support I've ever seen," the Stags' chief said.
"They had a really tremendous atmosphere created inside the Ricoh. That was thanks to the Coventry fans in the first ten minutes who set a tempo, and I think the biggest compliment we can give our supporters is after the first 10 or 15 minutes, we don't hear them (the Coventry fans).
"Our fans were tremendous; it's a great win for them and it's a great win for our chairman and the chief executive (John and Carolyn Radford).
"Thank you to every man, woman, lass and little lad that was in full voice at the end."
"For 1,500 Stags' fans to be in voice like that, it's not very often when you're – I know I look 31 – but when you're 55 and you've had a lot of games as a manager, you don't often get surprised.
"I was surprised by the volume of the support today. Thank you to every man, woman, lass and little lad that was in full voice at the end.
"When we go back there [to the One Call Stadium], the one thing, if they can create that atmosphere today, and there'll be 4,000-5,000 people more, just create that atmosphere. That's the atmosphere that promotion teams get."
Stags had to weather an early Coventry storm at the Ricoh Arena as the home side started the match on the front foot, but the boss believes after the opening 18 minutes, his side dominated the game.
"I think from 17/18 minutes therein, there's one good team on the pitch, which is us.
"We've had some really good performances, but we're playing really well. For us to be in a run of six unbeaten, you know, I know and I think everyone who watches us knows we should win five of those.
"We've let ourselves down because we've not punished teams or we've not defended properly but today we were good in both boxes.
"It's a great strike by Macca (Alex MacDonald); I feel sorry for the goalkeeper because I've just watched it back and the ball moves twice in mid-air.
"The biggest compliment we can give ourselves is do they make a chance? Do they make a real chance in 98 minutes or 99 minutes? I don't think Coventry make a real chance today, unless I look at it back and see that they did. That tells me it's a good performance."
Supporters will be able to login to iFollow Stags to view the manager's post-match interview later this evening.
