Bristol Rovers point will prove valuable for Mansfield Town believes Oli Hawkins

The big striker turned centre half said: “It was an important point from a tough place to come and a clean sheet.

“We want to win these games at any cost but we’ll probably look back on it and say it’s a good draw.

“We had a lot of possession in the first half. I think it was a game of two halves. The second half we had to dig in.

“We had a few errors in the first five minutes we had to overcome, but the rest of the half we did well and we didn’t really give them a sniff.

“We defended well and kept a clean sheet. The positive is that it is no loss and a clean sheet.”

Hawkins was in good form up front early in the season, but has excelled as a makeshift defender since the club had an injury crisis. And he said he was enjoying the role and learning more about it.

“I came here as a striker and a striker is still in my blood, but I’m really enjoying centre half at the moment,” he said..

“I’m looking forward to each game to try and keep a clean sheet and defend as well as I can to become a better centre half.

“I’m hoping I can keep playing well there and the team wins so we can get promoted.

“Everyone is happy. Everyone is looking forward to coming in and training, and we’re looking forward to the games.

“The way everything is run here is brilliant and that’s the key to it.”

Stags currently have three tough away games in a row and Hawkins added: “We’ve just got to do the same as we do at home.”

“We’ve got to be on the front foot early, take our chances, get the lead and then defend well when we need to.

“We know our home ground is a fortress with the fans and the way we play. We’re confident enough to know we aren’t going to lose many at home.

“Our away form isn’t bad either, we don’t lose many. We need to just keep taking our chances when they come and we’ll have enough to win these games.

“We just want to try and stay unbeaten, so winning and drawing is key for us at the moment. We’ve got to keep this momentum going.”