First team coach Andy Garner hailed the Stags’ supporters for creating a raucous atmosphere at One Call Stadium as Mansfield beat Salford 5-1 in a pulsating Sky Bet League Two encounter.
Stags stormed to victory in a dominant performance which saw them lead 2-1 at the break before adding another three second-half goals.
A crowd of 7,166 were treated to a cracking affair and after the game, Andy told iFollow Stags: “I thought the fans were absolutely superb today, I really did. It was one of the noisiest I’ve heard today, they really got behind us.
“That really does help, it really does. Keep going, keep singing and like we did at the end, we’ll keep trying to get you another one.”
On the performance and result, the coach felt Mansfield should have won by a bigger margin.
“I thought we were excellent today, I really did. Probably the scoreline doesn’t reflect the game.
“We could have had more goals and that’s not being disrespectful for the opposition. But we don’t want to be too greedy, we’ll take the five [goals]. Obviously we’re disappointed we conceded a goal but it's a fantastic win for us.
“We need to be hitting the target a lot more. It sounds stupid and people will think I’m being ridiculous because we’ve scored five goals but honestly it could be more than that and we have to take more chances.”
At the break, Stags were 2-1 ahead and Andy revealed the messages said to the players in the changing room: “Just keep it going. We’re playing well enough. Start hitting the target a little bit more.
“We have to concentrate a bit more on the final third whether it be the final pass, final cross or an attempt on goal. Hit the target, all those type of things. [But] There was nothing wrong with our football today. It was another fantastic performance and we’re delighted with the three points.”
Stags had five separate scorers today as Will Swan, Baily Cargill, Davis Keillor-Dunn, Lucas Akins and Hiram Boateng all found the net.
Asked about whether it is important to ‘share the goals around the team’, he said: “It’s nice that is, why not? We have threats in all areas, from set-plays and it’s good when it comes from different players. Fantastic for H [Hiram Boateng] about getting a hat-trick [recently against Harrogate]. He came on and got another fantastic goal. Let’s keep it going.
“That’s how we want to play. You get a 9-2 against Harrogate, which is unbelievable. That’s how we want to play and create chances. We have options now with Swan, Akins and Tom [Nichols] and Keillor-Dunn. We want to be free-flowing and score goals. We want to get at teams week-in week-out. We’re not going to stop doing that. We want to keep scoring as many goals as we possibly can. That’s what we want to do in training and want to take it over into a Saturday and that’s what we’ll keep trying to do between now and the end of the season.”
