New centre-back Alfie Kilgour praised the Stags’ supporters following the amber and blue’s convincing 4-1 win against Doncaster Rovers at One Call Stadium this afternoon.
The defender, formerly of Bristol Rovers, put pen-to-paper on an 18-month deal on 13 January for an undisclosed fee.
Kilgour opened his Mansfield account with an emphatic half-volley on 26 minutes to help Stags gain a 2-0 advantage.
And after the game, he spoke of the influence of this afternoon’s bumper home crowd, the highest in almost 20 years: “The fans today were absolutely brilliant, they were right behind us. They stuck with us and it was a great result.”
Assessing Stags’ victory, the defender said: “[There’s] lots of positives [to take and a] few things to work on.
“Obviously I got my goal and ultimately I think it was a good team performance from the lads that started to the lads who came off the bench.
“It’s not our best performance [and] we know that [but] there’s lots to work on and ultimately we got [the] three points and got the win going into [the] Bradford [City game] on Saturday.”
Speaking about his goal, the 24-year-old said: “It sat up nicely for me. I’ve scored one [goal] before, which I got goal of the month for but like I said it sat up nicely.
“I got a good connection and it was a special moment to mark my debut for the Stags.”
Lucas Akins’ lob over the Doncaster ‘keeper saw the amber and blue regain their two-goal advantage after Kyle Hurst pulled a goal back for the visitors on 53 minutes.
And Kilgour highlighted the significance of the goal, saying: “I think it was the crucial moment, Lukey [Lucas Akins] going through and getting the goal.
“I think another crucial moment was Flins’ [Scott Flinders] save. At that point I thought this is going to be our day. “
Kilgour summed up his own performance as he made his full debut in Stags’ colours as well as areas in which Stags can improve further.
“I thoroughly enjoyed it,” he said. “It was a good Saturday afternoon.
“The manager obviously has super high standards and he wants us to try and play a bit more. Today wasn’t quite that day.
“They were very high on the press and were waiting for us to play. In terms of football style we want to try and play a bit more so we’ll probably look to work on that.”
