Versatile defender Jordan Bowery described Mansfield’s excellent 5-1 away victory over Bradford as ‘massive’ but emphasised that Stags must remain focused heading into the final eight games.
Mansfield romped into an early lead at the University of Bradford Stadium thanks to early notches from Baily Cargill (10’), Lucas Akins (14’) and Davis Keillor-Dunn (18’).
Will Swan added Mansfield’s fourth on the stroke of half-time before Aaron Lewis’ 86th minute strike wrapped up a resounding victory.
Stags sit atop Sky Bet League Two, five points clear of second placed Stockport County.
Bowery spoke to iFollow Stags after the match and said: “[It was] Magnificent. It was a great [way to] bounce back after Tuesday, we needed it. To get five goals, it was a great victory.
“We came [here] off the back of a defeat on Tuesday. We can’t have two defeats in a row, that can’t happen at this stage of the season. We need to push on and try and get as many wins as we can to push for promotion.
“It’s [a] massive [win] but we can’t get ahead of ourselves.
“We’ve got to get on with it and go on to Saturday [against] Colchester.
“We’ve got to try and do the same thing. Whether it’s a 1-0 win, a 2-0 win, we’ve got to go into that game with the mentality of trying to win. Every game from now on is important.”
The Mansfield number nine said he and his teammates smelt blood and said: “You could tell from the off, our intentions were to go and get as many goals as we could. That’s what we’ve got to do.
“The gaffer, after the third goal was still going, ‘you’ve got to go get a fourth, go get a fifth’. We cannot afford to do what we did last season and miss out by one goal, that can’t happen this year.
“We’ve got to go into these games and try and score as many as we can.
“We’ve got so many goal threats in this team. That’s why we are where we are. [We had] Five different goal scorers today, it’s a sign of a good team. I think we do that a lot, it’s not just today. We create a lot of chances, I think that’s what we do with the quality players we have.”
The 32-year-old said he and his teammates were yet again buoyed by the loyal travelling Stags in West Yorkshire this afternoon.
Mansfield were backed by 2,500 raucous away supporters and Bowery said: “[They were] Brilliant. Every week they turn out in numbers no matter where it is.
“It’s so good to look at and have that support behind you. Over there taking a throw-in I can hear them all chanting. It’s so good.”
