Match-winner Neal Bishop paid homage to everybody associated with Mansfield Town following his side’s 1-0 victory over Grimsby Town.
The Stags’ latest win, that consequently extended their unbeaten league run to 17 games, was made possible courtesy of Bishop’s thunderous header mid-way through the first half.
David Flitcroft’s side were made to work for three points against in-form Grimsby, but it duly arrived alongside their 12th clean sheet in Sky Bet League Two.
Notching his third goal in a Mansfield shirt, Bishop was keen to praise everybody affiliated with the Stags outfit – at all levels.
“At the minute, through everyone, we’re all pulling in the same direction,” he began.
“There are some fantastic characters in the dressing room – a team of winners – that’s instilled from the chairman to the manager.
“The way we celebrated with the supporters at the end, that’s what it is all about. I don’t think we played to our maximum [today] but these are the points you need if you’re to have a successful season.
"There are some fantastic characters in the dressing room – a team of winners – that’s instilled from the chairman to the manager."
“Everyone’s pulling in the right direction so long may that continue. It’s a massive respect for the football club to want to do well for the Chairman and the Chief Executive, who pay our wages.
“We want to make this club and the town proud. “
Aside from his match-winning header, the industrious midfielder showcased another brilliant performance in regards to his general play against the Mariners.
And the 37-year-old touched upon his age and just how he continues to power through gamesmanship .
“I don’t like talking about my age but it’s one of them things,” he said, jokingly.
“I just try and do things right off the pitch because when you hit a certain age, let’s be honest, you can’t do the things you could when you were younger. I’ve got to look after myself to give myself the best chance of performing on the pitch.
“I’ve come here to a club that I really want to help, with a manager that’s top notch. Him [Flitcroft] and Futch [Ben Futcher] with the depth they set us up, and prepare us, is really good and I’m really enjoying working under them.
“I think you can see that all the lads are fully behind him and this club, and like I say, it’s going in the right direction. But nobody’s getting carried away.
“We’ve achieved nothing yet because these records mean nothing unless you can add promotion at the end of the season. It’ll be all about where we are come May 4th.”
Bishop then cited the various components to his side’s play as they extended their unbeaten league run in north-east Lincolnshire.
“If you look across our wins we’ve come from behind, we’ve led and we’ve took control of games.
“We’ve got different attributes in the squad to go on and win games of football. That’s shown again today. This probably wasn’t one for the football purists in this division, though.
“There are 46 hard games and on a pitch that’s not giving you much, so we dug in. You can see the desire not to get beat, not to concede and the desire to give these supporters a win.
“It’s a great way to start the year.”
iFollow Stags subscribers can watch Bishop's interview in full by logging into mansfieldtown.net/ifollow later today.
