'If you could bottle that up': The magic ingredients Mansfield Town’s Michael Smith wants to see repeated
Mansfield Town are still looking to get back to winning ways since their statement win over Luton earlier in the season.
The 5-2 stunner over Luton Town feels like a distant memory now as Mansfield work through a mixed run of results in League One.
These opening games have been a ‘topsy-turvy’ start for Stags, as Nigel Clough recently said, and they’ve picked up just two points since their emphatic performance against the Hatters.
Fans were treated to a real dominant performance at the One Call Stadium last month as Stags went 5-0 up against the promotion hopefuls.
Jack Wilshere had no positives to say about his side, which showed just how much Stags had run riot.
Frustratingly, Mansfield Town have not been able to recreate a performance of that calibre and they are yet to win again since that afternoon against the Hatters nearly a month ago.
Straight after the seven-goal thriller, Stags were humbled with a 5-0 defeat to Reading on the road. Fast forward to their latest result and they are now four games without a win.
Their most recent performances against Huddersfield and Burton saw them earn hard-fought draws but the Luton match remains the benchmark fans want to see Mansfield return to.
Michael Smith recently reflected on that game and made it clear that the team are also looking to channel that same energy again if they want to climb the League One table.
“I think it was one of those games where everything clicked,” Smith said during a recent press conference. “Every chance we had, we seemed to score. Everyone was feeling good that day as a collective, I think we both defended and attacked really well. If you could bottle that up, you would.
“Unfortunately, we were unable to carry that on in the week but that’s the thing with League One – you’ve always got the next game to try and turn it around.”
League One is an extremely competitive division and Clough himself believes there will be little to separate the clubs once again this season. As things stand, there are just three points between Oxford United in sixth and Bromley down in 19th in the league standings.
Stags are currently 17th with eight points on the board. Their latest 2-2 draw against Burton not only marked their first point away from home, but the first time they’d scored since facing Luton.
Once again, all roads lead back to that eye-popping afternoon at the One Call Stadium but Smith says that if there was a secret formula to playing like that each week, Stags would already be knocking on the door of promotion.
“We spoke after the game about bottling that feeling up and trying to take it into the upcoming games. I mean, it’s the million dollar question. If you could replicate a result like that every week, you wouldn’t be in League One realistically.
“But it’s about remembering what we did well that day and trying to take it forward.”
Flirting with the play-off places is an aim Stags aren’t shy about admitting. After finishing tenth last season, the next goal is to better that result and multiple players have spoken publicly about targeting the top six.
Most recently, George Maris said Stags ‘want to be challenging’, especially after the players they signed over the summer to strengthen the ranks.
Mansfield Town have some time off now during the international break and will certainly feel inspired from their 2-2 draw with Burton.