Mr Derry won praise from many fans at the local derby with Notts County when he again went to the edge of the pitch to congratulate the Stags players at the final whistle.

That action led to problems when he also went onto the pitch to confront the referee after the home defeat with MK Dons - and at the weekend we revealed that he had been fined £3,000 for the incident by the FA.

But on Saturday there was no repeat of the problems, with the would-be new owner applauded by fans and shaking handing with supporters before he saluted the players.

Mr Derry told Chad: "This is not something I will do at every home match, but it was a vital win and I wanted to show the players that we were all right behind them. I think they appreciated that.

"The fans were very supportive on Saturday and we need to get them onside. I would like to thank those who came and supported the team and also got behind me.

"There was a great atmosphere on Saturday and the fans got right behind the team.

"Now we need to get more people into the Mill on a regular basis.

"The capacity restriction (5,064 at the moment) is killing us at the moment. I am convinced if the derby had not been all-ticket that we would have got another 2,000 people into the Mill.

"We are meeting the Safety Advisory Group next week and hope to make progress on raising the capacity at least back to 70% in all stands as soon as possible.

"The turnstiles in the West Stand where there has been a problem worked okay on Saturday, but there are occasions when it has malfunctioned. We have said we will upgrade them.

"I don't know of another ground in the country where there are such draconian measures in place.

"I believe we are suffering because of a perceived lack of action on safety issues by the previous regime."

Nottinghamshire County Council safety officials were at the match on Saturday and a spokesman said: "There was nothing to report from the game on Saturday.

"The situation has not changed and there is still a capacity reduction of 70% in the North Stand and 50% in the rest of the ground.

"We will continue to work with the club to help them build on the safety improvements that are already being made."

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