Stags’ boss David Flitcroft has said that 'match-winning' moments defined Monday's loss to Luton Town at Kenilworth Road.
Kane Hemmings gave Stags the lead in what was a superb first-half performance, but goals from James Collins and Glen Rea meant that the hosts left with all three points.
The manager explained that his side needs to be more clinical in front of goal, but added that he could not fault the effort that the Stags' players showed on the day.
“Reflecting on the 95 minutes of football that we’ve played here, not many teams would come here and cause the problems we caused,” he said.
“But if you’re not pristine in the match-winning moments then you’re going to undo all the hard work and the shifts that the lads have put in.
“That’s two performances now where the attitude and application [were positive], and the shift that the boys have put in – they gave each other everything.
“Some of the balls we put in were really good today whereas against Forest Green [in the last away game] our end product wasn’t that good.
“We worked the ball well and completely dominated them in the first-half. We put the ball in good areas but we have to finish our work off.”
The Stags’ manager emphasised further that his side must work on killing off games.
“There was a spirit about the performance and I saw a group of players that were trying to win a football match today.
“We created a chance just before that [half-time] when Mellis hit the bar, we were getting in and causing all sorts of problems. That was the game plan, to go and cause them problems.
“I think if it goes to 2-0 when Lee [Angol] has a chance then they wouldn’t come back from that.
"If you’re not pristine in the match-winning moments, then you’re going to undo all the hard work and the shifts that the lads have put in."
“I’ve seen real signs from a team that are desperate to win football matches, and we’re going to have to put everything into the last six games.
“We’ve started to open teams up and create good chances but now we must work on killing teams off – that’s the ruthless edge that I plan to put into this team.”
Flitcroft added that his team are mentally prepared for the final six games of the season, and that the players are fighting to put points on the board for the Stags fans.
“There can’t be any errors of judgement,” he added. “We have to make sure we put teams to the sword. But it was a good performance from the boys.
“In the Accrington game and this game, we’ve got no points to show but there’s definitely a galvanised spirit in this group.
“We need to now pay the fans respect and get some points on the board for them. They’ve been outstanding over this Easter Weekend.
“They spent their hard-earned money coming in the stadium against Accrington and now they’ve travelled down here today. We have to start putting point on the board.”
iFollow Stags subscribers can watch Flitcroft’s post-match interview in full by logging into www.mansfieldtown.net/ifollow later today.
