Stags’ skipper Krystian Pearce hailed his side’s 1-1 draw with Lincoln City as a result to keep them in the mix in Sky Bet League Two.
With Mansfield Town currently sat in fourth place after the latest round of fixtures, there are just two points that separate third to tenth.
This subsequently makes Jacob Mellis’ late equaliser seem all the more important as they kept up their superb unbeaten run with a pulsating draw at Sincil Bank.
And Pearce reckons that every point is important – eluding to the fact that it also came in what was Mansfield’s biggest game so far this season.
“Everyone’s buzzing,” he exclaimed. “Getting a last minute equaliser is always a big thing in a local derby like this, in the biggest game of the season; it was a good feeling.
“To get a point away from home against Lincoln is a good point for us. It stops them getting a gap on us and keeps us in the mix.
“When it’s only a one goal difference there’s always a chance so we kept going to the end.”
"To get a point away from home against Lincoln is a good point for us. It stops them getting a gap on us and keeps us in the mix."
Pearce himself left Lincoln having put in, as he so often does, a solid shift at the heart of the back line, yet deflected praise onto his teammates either side of him.
“I was pleased with my performance but Sweeney and Preston were man mountains beside me,” he recognised.
“They’ve both been under the weather so to put in the performance they did today I have to give them a little shout out, too.
“We put in a good performance and as a team we showed our character as we’ve done in many games this season.”
The 28-year-old then commented on the threat of Lincoln’s strike force, as well as how he and his side dealt with it accordingly.
“They can cause problems but I felt the defence dealt with them well.
“It’s different kinds of opponents so you try to nullify their strengths and play to your own instead.
“The back three has done us well so far. Our goals conceded tally and the amount of clean sheets we have shows that – but it’s not just been that we’ve been defending as a unit.
“All the boys are buzzing after this so we’re looking forward to Tuesday.”
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