‘Job not done yet’ warns Mansfield Town assistant boss Joe Dunne

Stags head to Cheltenham Town on Saturday for the first of four successive games against top eight sides.

Saturday's crucial 1-0 home win over Newport County lifted them to 13 points clear of the drop with only 12 games to go.

But Dunne said: “No chance do we feel like it's job done, though I would not go as far as to say we're 'looking over our shoulders'.

“But we can't get into that 'job done' mindset yet. It's something we want to get rid of actually.

“The disappointing thing is that, since we've come in, we've been in situations where we could have had enough points to put ourselves a lot higher up this league.

“So not for one minute will we ever think the job is done. We need to make sure that does not creep in.”

He added: “I thought there was willingness from the players on Saturday and some top performances from some of them, especially one or two of the senior lads, who stepped up.

“But we are not in a position to take anything for granted here. We have to keep working hard.”

Dunne said the Stags should be relishing the next four games.

“I think they are great games – it's a great challenge,” he said.

“It's for us to set a standard for ourselves between now and the end of the season. You love testing yourself against the best.

“When everyone else at the top are scrambling around to try to get themselves out of this league, let's go take them all on and try to see out the season with good performances to bring us into the summer and take us forward.

“Good performances will be the key. We have shown we can go and compete against those teams.

“The pressure is on those type of teams at this stage of the season as they've got a lot to lose and we've got a lot to gain.

“The mentality and motivation we have is to make sure we finish as high as we can and those teams up there trying to get promoted, only they can look after themselves. It's none of our business.”

Dunne continued: “In the last six games in the form guide we are only two points behind Cheltenham, who are going for promotion at the moment. We've had two wins, two draws and two defeats.

“In the games we are going into against the top sides, we have enough experience about us to go and enjoy those matches.”