Stags’ midfielder Ollie Clarke says he and the players will ‘give it everything’ to finish on a ‘real high for the fans and the club’, as Mansfield enter the final five games of the campaign.
The 31-year-old says staying relaxed and working as hard as possible could be the key for Stags with the end of the season in sight.
The experienced midfielder spoke about last Saturday’s defeat to Crawley and how the side are gearing up for tomorrow’s game with Forest Green Rovers at One Call Stadium.
Speaking in a news conference at RH Academy on Monday, Clarke said: “We wanted to get off to a fast start.
“It’s one of those where I think we won a corner early on and we sort of had some pressure, but to let them go down the other end and score in the manner we did was really disappointing and it really knocked us for six.
“First-half I think we had our fair share of chances, fair share of play.
“On another day we’d probably score two or three and the game would probably pan out differently. It was one of those on Saturday where you sort of have to take your medicine and move on from it as quickly as possible.
“We’re still a confident group, still got it all to play for so it’s not all doom and gloom. We’ve just got to get back to defending solidly, making sure we clear our lines and get ourselves up the pitch and make sure we create the chances we have been doing and be clinical in front of goal.”
On Forest Green, the midfielder said: “It is probably going to be our biggest game of the season. They’ll be right up for it. They’re fighting to stay in the league and they’ll probably give themselves every chance to do so.
“I think they’ll be a lot more organised. The manager [Steve Cotterill] has had a lot more time with them since the first time that we played them.
“I think we need to just be ruthless in both boxes, which we haven’t been in the last couple of games and I think that’ll take care of itself.”
The former Bristol Rovers man, who has two promotions to his name, then went on to speak about what it takes to get over the line in a promotion race: “You’ve just got to try and stay relaxed,” he said. “You’ve got to try and work as hard as you possibly can.
“We know we’ve got the capabilities in here. It's just at the minute we’re not quite firing on all cylinders, but we’ve got to dust ourselves off and go again tomorrow night.
“I think you’ve just to face it head on and say ‘right I’m up for this, I’m here for it’.
“What every athlete craves and wants to achieve is promotion and winning things.
“As a group we’ve had this ambition for the whole season and it’s now about really driving it over the line and finishing on a real high for our fans and the club.
“Everyone’s pulling together so us as players just need to give everything we’ve got to get to where we want to be.
“We've done it for eight [or] nine months already, it's just [in] that final push you need everyone pulling together in the right direction to get over the line.”
