Mansfield Town

Attacking midfielder Jorge Grant was full of praise for both defence and attack as Mansfield Town secured a 3-0 victory over Tranmere Rovers on Saturday afternoon.

Grant, on-loan from Nottingham Forest, notched his first goal in a Stags shirt with a brilliant set-piece before doubling his tally with quick reactions in the second period.

The brace capped off a silky display on not only a personal note, but collectively, as Mansfield kept the Rovers at bay to chalk up their 14th clean sheet of the season.

And Grant drew attention to this following his side’s third successive victory in Sky Bet League Two.

“Defensively we were solid,” he affirmed. “I think Tranmere had one chance which was a header in the first half from a corner, and then from that going forward we’re a brilliant team that creates so many chances for each other.

“We kept it solid at the back – I thought they were a good counter-attacking side. We passed the ball around well and were able to split them open quite a few times and overall we played good football.

“We said at half time: ‘If we pass the ball right then spaces will open up’ and with one less man that’s exactly what we did.”

The 24-year-old conceded that he would have liked a hat-trick, but was pleased that his goals helped secured three more points nevertheless.

“Three [goals] would have been nice but I’m happy to score two and obviously get the win for the boys.

“I try my hardest always, try and give 100 percent for the team, and on the ball I try and show my ability as much as possible – that’s what I keep doing at the moment.

"We passed the ball around well and were able to split them open quite a few times and overall we played good football."

“I got awarded it [man of the match] last time I was home as well so I’m really happy about that, too.”

Grant’s delightful free-kick in the first period set the Stags well on their way to victory, and he revealed that it had come to fruition via work in training in the days previous.

“I was practising some [free-kicks] yesterday in training, they weren’t great and I managed to put a lot over the bar but I’m happy this one has gone underneath,” he said jokingly.

“It’s something I worked on from a young age when me and my dad used to go out and practice, so it’s starting to come out more often than not.

“I enjoyed that one the most especially as it was the first one for Mansfield.”

iFollow Stags subscribers can watch the interview in full by logging into mansfieldtown.net/ifollow.