'Everyone's in a good place': Michael Smith says Mansfield Town 'fully back themselves' this season
Michael Smith added another two goals to his tally during Mansfield Town’s 3-0 win over AFC Wimbledon on Tuesday.
The striker’s brace took his League One tally up to five goals so far for this season as Stags earned their first win on the road.
Smith was brought in over the summer to provide new options in attack and with six goal-scoring contributions in his last four appearances, he is proving to be a key part of Nigel Clough’s team already.
Reflecting on Stags’ statement win at Plough Lane, Smith told club media: “It was thoroughly enjoyable and nice to get the first away win of the season. It’s been coming, we’ve put in a few good performances away from home so it’s nice to come away with three points.
“I thought it was an all-round brilliant team performance. The lads at the back were solid, especially at the start of the second half when we knew they were going to have a bit of a reaction. I thought we stood up tall, especially the boys at the back.”
Indeed, while Stags dominated much of the first half, Wimbledon piled on the pressure after the break as they searched for a way back into the match. Mansfield Town held firm to deal with the waves of Dons attacks until Jon Russell eventually put the game to bed with his goal.
Stephen McLaughlin was crucial in Stags’ attack as he assisted both of Smith’s goals with pinpoint crosses from the left. Before Tuesday, Mansfield had not yet scored a headed goal this season.
“The first was a brilliant ball by Macca, we know what kind of left foot he’s got. He put a few brilliant balls in the other night as well and I wasn’t quite there, so it was nice to get on the end of that one,” Smith said. “Then the second, all the pace was on the cross, it was just about getting the direction on it and it thankfully hit the back of the net.”
He then laughed as he admitted he was tempted to go for his hat-trick in the second half but selflessly squared the ball to Russell instead, who tucked away his third of the season.
“I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about shooting but I don’t think the manager would’ve been too happy if I’d have shot from there and didn’t play Jon in. We had a little laugh inside about it, all the boys knew what Jon was going to do. It was a brilliant finish from him and he deserved his goal tonight.”
The win over Wimbledon puts Stags on 15 points, level in all areas with Leicester City. They are currently only three points off Sheffield Wednesday in sixth.
Smith has been vocal about Mansfield’s chances of competing for a top six finish this season and he was once again positive about the team’s ambition after the Wimbledon win.
“Everything just clicked. We started well and were creating chances – we’ve got a lot of belief that we’re going to score goals no matter who we play. As a team, everyone’s in a good place, we fully back ourselves to go into most games and try to get the three points and that showed tonight by the team performance.”