WE NEED TO HANG IN THERE – EVANS
THE opening months of the season haven’t gone to plan, but Mansfield Town boss Steve Evans insists there’s no need to panic.
The Stags were the bookies’ favourites to win League Two after an ambitious overhaul of their playing squad this summer but have flattered to deceive so far.
Their 1-1 draw at Barnet in midweek, when Kane Hemmings’ first-half opener was cancelled out by former Stags loanee Shaquile Coulthirst with five minutes to go, left Mansfield 12th.
Another highly-fancied side, Luton Town, stormed to the top of the table with a thumping 4-1 win at high-flying Exeter on Tuesday to further underline their credentials.
Mansfield headed into yesterday’s game at Newport ten points behind the Hatters, but only four points off the play-offs.
It’s left Stags fans underwhelmed with their side’s displays, but the vastly-experienced Evans believes there’s no reason for alarm.
He said: “We’re lacking in one or two areas, that little bit of quality, but we’re missing key players through injury. I don’t see the teams at the top end changing their starting XI, so it means their key players are fit.
“We need to deal with that. We’re still there with 14 or 15 new players in the pack.
Heartened
“I’ve always said we need to keep in there until Christmas and we’ll be fine in the second half of the season. We need to make sure we’re in the pack.”
And the 54-year-old Scot was heartened by his side’s performance at Barnet on the back of a 3-1 defeat at home by Swindon last weekend.
“You don’t have to tell Steve Evans that wasn’t a Steve Evans team performance against Swindon,” he said. “That was a Steve Evans performance tonight – effort, desire, passion.
“We should win, we don’t win. It’s probably the nature of some games we’ve been involved in this season, but it was a good performance and we’ll try to build on this.”
Evans was relieved goalscorer Hemmings didn’t suffer a serious injury. “I think he’s still picking his forehead up after being thrown into the seats, which the referee said he didn’t see,” he added.