Hat-trick hero Maynard hails morale-boosting Mansfield Town win

The fact that Stags came from behind to win the game should, according to Maynard, reinforce the belief in the squad that digging deep can produce rewards.

And having hit a hat-trick to ensure the 3-2 success, he was delighted with the outcome.

He said: “It’s given us the belief. There have been times where we’ve been behind and we’ve not had the belief to think we can still get something out of the game.

“But we’ve shown that we can come from behind, dominate and come away with three points. Now we’ve just got to keep the momentum going into the next game.”

Maynard said his side had to work hard to secure victory in Wednesday’s game.

“We’ve had to dig deep. I think we’ve been playing a lot better with a higher tempo, without getting results,” he said.

“The gaffer drummed it into us to say that the first win would be hard but now we have that we can gain some momentum.

“We were a bit lackadaisical in the first half. I thought we were the better side without being ruthless in the penalty box.

“We had the talk at half time that we weren’t pressing enough and were giving silly fouls away but we nipped that in the bud and we knew we had the beating of them.

“We just had to remain positive and I thought we started the second half really well and that set the tone for the rest of the game.”

The 33-year-old also still believes he has a lot more to offer and that he can add to his 11 goals so far this campaign.

He said: “My expectation is always to get double figures.

“I pride myself on getting chances and scoring goals, but I’m not going to be happy now. I’ll keep pushing and striving to score as many as possible.

“The competition for places in the dressing room is up there and you’ve got to take your chance when you get it.

“The winner was my favourite goal. I score a few headers but not ones where I have to compete against other defenders that are a lot bigger than me.

“As I’ve gone to celebrate, the defender put his arm out and I ran straight into it. It was unintentional but it ruined my celebration!

“I wanted to celebrate and waste a little more time because we were ahead and it was about seeing the game out."