Build on Trophy win, urges Duff

CHELTENHAM Town need to build upon their 6-2 thrashing of Arsenal Under-21s when they return to League Two action this afternoon, insists Whaddon Road chief Michael Duff.

A brace from Jacob Maddox and goals from Chris Clements, Will Boyle, Kelsey Mooney and Ryan Broom comfortably saw Duff get his first win a Cheltenham boss in the Checkatrade Trophy, but today’s home game against Mansfield will be a different proposition.

Duff admitted his players were down after last weekend’s defeat, but insists they are now confident after the midweek result, and encouraged them to build on that.

“It was a nice feeling to win, but we need to have that feeling more often,” Duff told the official club website. “But to see it out, consolidate, and go on to score another couple of goals was pleasing to see.

“There was a bit more life in the dressing room after Tuesday’s result. Monday was flat and there was a lot of disappointed players and staff. We had to address that because you can’t feel sorry for yourself.

“Hopefully it will inject a bit of confidence and it’s something to build on, but only time will tell.”

Mansfield go into the game unbeaten in the League on their travels and, although Duff is aware of the threat the Stags pose, he knows his side are adaptable.

He continued: “They’ve got a lot of athleticism in their team, so we know what to expect from them.

“It will be a tough game because they’ve just come in off the back of a 3-0 win, so they’ll be on a high.

“But we’re the most important thing at the minute. The supporters will come and will buy into it once they see more positive results. We know we have to go out and deliver more for the supporters to buy in.”

Meanwhile, after his performance at Carlisle last week, Nathan Baxter is hoping to have kick-started Yeovil’s next unbeaten run.

The 19-year-old was in fine form to keep the Cumbrians at bay before Tom James’ stoppage-time strike earned all three points.

Speaking to official Yeovil Town website, Baxter said: “You could see when we went on that great run people seemed to be getting behind the team again and were proud, so for sure we want to get that going again. We believe we can beat every team – we know we can.”

The Glovers have another long away trip today with Morecambe the opposition.

Elsewhere, Swindon Town front man Elijah Adebayo wants to build on last week’s win at Notts County when Phil Brown’s men play away to Colchester United.

He said: “The boys are buzzing with the win. We know that we’ve taken a step in the right direction.”

Forest Green Rovers are currently sixth in the table and right in the hunt for promotion.

Today they have another huge test of their credentials when they visit leaders Lincoln City.