Mansfield Town

Manager David Flitcroft has said he is looking forward to getting back in front of the Stags' 'powerful' home support against Accrington this Friday.

Although he admits that the game against high-flying Accrington will be a 'tough encounter,' Flitcroft maintained that his side are ready for the challenge that John Coleman's side will bring to One Call Stadium.

Stags currently sit in seventh place in the League Two table, seven points shy of third placed Wycombe, with a game in hand on some of their promotion rivals.

Meanwhile, Accrington find themselves level on points with table-toppers Luton Town, despite playing two less games than The Hatters.

“For the game against Accrington on Friday we’ll probably look to do what we’ve always done,” said the Stags' boss, speaking in his press conference today. “We want to carry on the good work that’s happened at home.

“We have to make sure we create the energy on the pitch [with our play], so that energy comes from the support. Mansfield Town support is very passionate, and we have to tap into that.

"At home, the energy from the supporters is what we have to set alight in the stadium, because it is powerful."

“It’s a big weekend - we come up against two teams in good form. Luton away, wherever you are in the league, is a big fixture. Accrington have been so consistent all season and they’re up there - rightly so.

“We have to make sure we find a weakness against Accrington and make sure we keep asking questions. We’ve got to be on our A-game, and everyone is ready for a tough encounter on Friday."

The Stags’ manager also spoke of his recent formation change, as he lined his players up in a 4-3-3 system in the away clash against Forest Green Rovers last Saturday.

“For a lot of the season the team has been playing 4-4-2, and at home it’s produced good performances. When I look at the system at home, it’s worked, but away it has produced a lot of draws,” he added.

“I have to look at correcting that because we have got to win a good percentage of our away performances.

“In the first-half against Forest Green we created plenty, but our end product was really poor.

“The 4-3-3 was a look to change the fortune away from home and really be brave by attacking with three.”

Flitcroft also gave an update on Danny Rose’s injury, which caused him to be substituted in the first five minutes of the game against Forest Green.

Many feared the worst when Stags’ top scorer went down injured, but the manager has explained that the situation is not as bad as was initially thought.

“We had a similar situation with Jacob Mellis and that ended up being just over two weeks, and the situation with Danny is not as bad as that.

“There’s not as much swelling – Jacob stayed on the pitch for 20 minutes and the swelling got worse.

“We got Danny off the pitch almost immediately, just a couple of minutes after the injury, so we’ve been able to get the compression and the ice on.

“He’s shown good recovery. He’s been in a boot, which he is now out of, and we’ll hopefully start some light training with him tomorrow.

“We thought it could have been two or three weeks, it’s certainly not going to be.”

The Stags' boss also provided an injury update on Zander Diamond, and said that the defender is being 'assessed' each day, as he nears a return to the starting XI.

Stags are set to play twice over the Easter weekend, including the game against Accrington on Friday, and a trip down to Luton Town on Monday.

Supporters can buy tickets for the matches by logging into www.stagstickets.co.uk.

iFollow subscribers can watch the manager's press conference in full at www.mansfieldtown.net/ifollow.