Defender Zander Diamond has said there are plenty of positives to take from Good Friday’s game against Accrington, despite the Stags’ afternoon ending in defeat.
Left-back Mal Benning was sent off for the Stags early in the first-half, and Stanley midfielder Seamus Conneely headed home in the 60th minute to give the visitors all three points.
Although the Stags left One Call Stadium empty-handed, the skipper believes that the result of the game did not reflect the performance shown by David Flitcroft’s men.
“I think it was [a harsh result] in the context of the game,” he said. “We put so much into it and we conceded from a set piece - that’s the disappointing context of it.
“You have to take the positives, after going down to ten men there was a real fight and desire from the boys as a collective."
“We were very rigid in our shape and we always looked dangerous. But, we leave here disappointed and we can say we’ve done well but ultimately it is a defeat.
“You have to take the positives, after going down to ten men there was a real fight and desire from the boys as a collective. But that’s the disappointing part because we’ve conceded from a set piece.
“We’ll take the positives to the training pitch tomorrow and then go to Luton.”
Diamond returned to the starting lineup today after being sidelined for the last fortnight, and says he was ‘delighted’ to be back playing in front of the Stags’ fans.
“I was delighted [to be back in the side], it was more of a psychological barrier to get over as I’ve hardly completed a game in recent weeks.
“It tested my reserves going down to ten men but I dug in and came out unscathed.”
The 33-year-old also added that there was no time to dwell about today’s defeat, with another huge game just around the corner.
“It will be a difficult test [against Luton], I’ve played there before and the fans get right behind them,” he said. “Obviously they’re flying at the correct end of the table and it’ll be a difficult challenge for us, but if we meet that challenge head on then hopefully we’ll have a positive result come five o’clock on Monday.
“There’s seven games to go, there’s no point dwelling over what’s been. We have another game to go and put something right.
“We know that the Stags fans will travel in big numbers and hopefully we can reward them on Monday.”
The game against The Hatters kicks off at 3.00pm on Monday at Kenilworth Road.
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