Stags’ boss David Flitcroft says he could watch Jorge Grant ‘all afternoon,’ following the attacking midfielder’s man-of-the-match display in the 3-0 victory over Tranmere.
The 24-year-old scored in either half of today’s win, first with a pinpoint free-kick, before rolling home the rebound of Tyler Walker’s saved effort.
The manager says that Grant and Walker – who also scored in today’s win – caused ‘chaos’ to the opposition.
“They [Walker and Grant] cause chaos,” he explained. “They’ve played together before and they’re telepathic in their approach.
“They know where each other are instinctively. That was a really important bit, to try and bring Granty in.
“Since I’ve been here, we do get a few free-kicks around the edge of the box. Granty specialises in them, it’s what he does.
“It’s a mindset. He has the quality, but I want my players to be bold and keep getting on the ball. You’re going to make mistakes, you’re human. But don’t stop getting on the ball.
“He [Grant] wants the ball at every opportunity. He looks like he loves playing football and I could watch him all afternoon.
“His figures are elite figures. The work that he does, he’s getting elite numbers in terms of his physical stats.
“I hope that we can help him get to the very top, I really do. Him, Tyler and Jordan [Smith], I really do want them to keep progressing.
“I see potential in a player, and my job as a manager is to get that out of them. This group, they epitomise that.
"He [Grant] wants the ball at every opportunity. He looks like he loves playing football and I could watch him all afternoon."
“Whatever I ask them [players] to commit to, they commit to. They’re a brilliant bunch to work with, they really are.”
The Stags’ boss says he will not ‘underestimate’ today’s convincing victory, as he says it came against a side that are ‘full of passion.’
“I’m certainly not going to underestimate this victory. The team that Micky [Mellon] has built epitomises him. It’s full of passion.
“Tranmere are so committed to the manager so we didn’t take this game lightly. When they went down to ten men, it wasn’t an easy task.
“Tranmere fight for the manager, and we took that away from them slowly. It was almost a death by a thousand cuts.
“It shows you the quality that we have on the pitch. We’ve been chasing Nicky [Ajose] for quite a while and you can see with his movement, he brings players in.
“Some of the one-touch play we’ve got, it’s fantastic. There were a lot of fouls in the game, but it’s because we move the ball really quickly.
“I’m delighted for the players and the supporters today because the Yeovil game still disappoints me.
“I know what quality a Micky Mellon Tranmere team brings. One thing they’ll never do is lie down.
“Because of the foul count first-half, it was difficult to get into any fluidity. The sending off is a sending off, they were two rash tackles in close proximity.
“We’re a difficult team to go up against with ten men because of our fluidity. We move the ball and it was a really professional performance from the players. It was ruthless.”
