Can Mansfield Town clinch promotion glory tomorrow night against Accrington Stanley?
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Saturday's 4-1 win at chief rivals MK Dons left Stags realistically needing only one point from their last three games due to their huge superior goal difference, but a win would seal it.
Stags host Accrington Stanley tomorrow before Gillingham visit on Saturday with an away trip to Barrow to follow – and boss Nigel Clough urged his players to get the job done quickly.
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Hide Ad“We know what we have to do this week – don't leave it another game,” he said.
“The longer you leave it, the harder it gets. Let's get it done at the first opportunity.
“After Saturday's game amidst the jubilation we knew we still needed a point.
“So let's get it done on Tuesday night as the sooner you get it done, the better.
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Hide Ad“Stockport and Wrexham have already done it and we don't want to be going into Saturday where you're keeping one eye on other results at Harrogate v MK Dons. We want to do it off our own back.
“We realistically only need a point from our last three games.
“A five game swing of results going against us is unlikely, but in football that can happen that's why we're taking nothing for granted and we want to do the business tomorrow and win.
“We're not looking beyond tomorrow night. We just want to get a performance good enough to get us a point or three.
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Hide Ad“The players just need to continue in the same vein as they have done for last eight and a half months. Home or away we have been as positive as we can and are top goalscorers in the league – we're there for a reason.
“We must not get carried away with anything, players must just do their jobs like they've done for the majority of the season.They don't have to do anything different.
“There were no real signs of nerves on Saturday when, after going behind, we just kept playing. That is reassuring.
“We're actually down to the wire now so we will see how we are tomorrow.”
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Hide AdHe added: “We were all disappointed to lose to Crawley at home. But have a look up and down the country and see how difficult people at the top are finding it to actually win games.
“It's quite incredible. It's hard at any stage of the season, but especially when the pressure is on.
“I think the other incentive is that we can go second tomorrow.
“We just need to focus and get the job done. We know how much it will mean to the 8,000 or 9,000 we get in tomorrow.
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Hide Ad“We will approach it as we have done the other 43 games this season in as positive a manner as we can.
“We have to try and keep things on an even keel tomorrow night because there will be a lot of emotion and a lot of expectation and optimism from the crowd.
“So we need to use that to our advantage and first of all try to get a goal which would settle things down. That will be our intention from the off.
“You are nervous and excited and just hope that you're coming out on the right side of it after the 90 minutes.
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Hide Ad“The (promotion) feeling is one that we want to have. We nearly had it on Saturday in terms of when you are just that one point short. Let's get the job done tomorrow.
“As a manager there's all the feelings, the emotions and the nerves and that sort of thing.
“It's a cliché, but once they go out there you can't do an awful lot to control it We've prepared for the last eight and half months for this moment, so we're going to see it through.
“You just don't want a decision going against you in this situation that can affect things.
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Hide Ad“You don't expect anything in your favour either. You just want the game to be decided on its merit.
“I hope there's enough spirit and determination in the camp to get that point or three.
“You can't play for a point. We will be going for the win.”
On Accrington, Clough said: “We had them watched on Saturday at Doncaster, who are the form team at the moment and have just broken a club record.
“So it's difficult to judge but they are a very good team with a couple of threats – Jack Nolan is as big a threat as there is in the league.
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Hide Ad“I know we won 3-0 there but it flattered us a little and was just down to the quality of our goals that day. I hope we get a couple like that tomorrow.”
On his squad, he added: “We've got a few doubts after Saturday. Certainly I don't think any of the defenders that we're missing will make it for tomorrow night, so it'll be hopefully pretty much the same 18.”
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