But he also had a word of praise for the backing of the fans at Stonebridge Road on Saturday, and looks forward to them helping his side to raise their game against the Cambridgeshire club.

"Histon are a big, physical, and very direct side, and we will have to win our individual battles if we are going to get anywhere against them.

"Any team managed by Steve Fallon and John Beck will provide any opposition with a tough encounter, and we won't under-estimate them or any other team in this league. It will be up to us to play our style of football and impose our style on them.

"We've had them watched and they will have watched us. We feel we know where their strengths are and we have to try to counter them. We respect them for where they are and what they have achieved, but they don't worry me one bit. My team are the only worry for me, we need to be aware it and pick up quickly in terms of our own team shape and formation."

McEwan re-iterated his call for patience, adding: "We still need time to develop as a group and we're fast-tracking to get there, but patience is a virtue and we've got to have a bit of understanding in our early weeks.

"I thought the fans on Saturday were absolutely outstanding and really gave us that momentum when we got the goal to go on, play even better, and get the equaliser. So they deserve a massive round of applause.

"They know we aren't the finished article squad-wise, we've got to build up as far as organisation and discipline are concerned on the pitch so we don't want to get carried away by the way we got back into it on Saturday.

"We've still got to bring more players in, we're still short on numbers, but these players are the ones who are holding the shirts at the minute, and hopefully the budget can stretch to bringing a few more players in, but it's got to be the right players."

Although Adam Quinn is training with Stags after finally winning his release from Halifax Town, he may or may not be an option for McEwan.

• 'Limbo' defender training with Stags

"He's training with us, but he's got to get himself into good condition before we even think about that," he said.

Aaron O'Connor and Jason Lee may face fitness tests before the game. "Both have done a bit of training today, but we'll have to wait until tomorrow to see the situation with them."