LOMAS ON MANSFIELD TOWN: Stags must now build on tonic win over Bradford City as they finally produce a 'complete performance'

Stags have shown hints of their capabilities all season but continually let themselves down at one end of the pitch or the other.

But, against a Bradford side sitting pretty in fifth place, they were simply sensational on Saturday.

Graham Coughlan's high-pressing in-your-face style is in stark contrast to the patient build-up favoured by predecessor John Dempster, which sadly failed to bring home the bacon often enough and cost him his job.

But fans loved every second of seeing their players so hungry and energetic on Saturday, closing down Bantams players at every chance and chasing lost causes.

A run by Nicky Maynard to keep the ball in play on the by-line and a chase back and tackle by Andy Cook were rewarded with huge roars from the stands.

MacDonald was also given huge cheers for his usual non-stop chasing and harrassing of opponents.

One bone-crunching tackle by him near to the managers' dug-outs was cheered almost as loudly as the three goals.

Seeing players give everything for the badge for 90 minutes is all most supporters want. If players have done that and lost the match then nothing has been left out on the pitch and fans will rarely boo.

But there have certainly been games this season where heads have dropped, silly mistakes made that would not have been made last season, and players performed well under their potential.

However, on Saturday everyone was absolutely on it with MacDonald winning sponsors' man of the match, but pipped for that accolade for me by 'the chief' Krystian Pearce - suddenly back to the form that won him a place in last season's EFL Team of the Season just a fortnight after being told he could leave the club if he wanted.

It is hard to understand just how hurtful this season has been for Pearce and how much his immense pride as club skipper must have been hurt by seeing opponents scoring at will past him and his fellow defenders and then given a public dressing down by a new manager and told he could move on.Lesser men might have crumbled or sulked under the weight of that adversity and it would have been the last you'd have seen of them.

Instead, warrior Pearce has come roaring back to prove a point and he more than anyone will have relished the clean sheet last Saturday and the crowd chanting his name once more.

The new manager's gruelling new training schedule is certainly paying immediate dividends with players now starting to look like they can go flat out for the full 90 minutes.

And they have finally shown they can be ruthless in front of goal at the same time as keeping a clean sheet.

Listening to Bradford's fans booing their manager and calling for his head and home fans cheering Coughlan and his men shows just how quick football can change considering how bad the atmosphere was for Stags home games earlier last month.

I have to say that, despite coming into the game on a run of four games without a win, the fact that Gary Bowyer was getting so much stick, despite taking his side to fifth in the table pre-match, did seem somewhat harsh.

But they certainly deserved nothing on the day as Mansfield, who had the joint third worst defensive record in League Two before last night's games, shut them out with relative comfort.

Let's not forget how important that early block by Mal Benning was, as the day could have unfolded very differently had he been unable to prevent an unmarked Dylan Connolly giving Bradford a fifth minute lead.

How Coughlan must have cherished that first clean sheet at the eighth attempt since he took over.

He was clearly delighted at the end with his side's afternoon's work but was not being a killjoy when he said afterwards that one swallow did not make a summer and it was now all about finding some consistency in results.

There is certainly no better time to do that than now with three successive games against fellow strugglers Oldham Athletic, Carlisle United and Morecambe inside 12 crucial days.

These words were penned before last night's scheduled game at Oldham, but we all know the League Two table could look a look more attractive to Stags fans at the end of this spell.

Saturday's win eased Stags to 18th place and eight points above the drop and we knew if they could beat the next three sides, who are all below them, they could quickly claw themselves into the warmth and comfort of mid-table.

The rest of the season can then be spent honing Coughlan's style for a big push next season.

Only time will tell if Saturday was a watershed moment or a brief glimpse of sunshine in an otherwise gloomy season.

All eyes for the rest of this week will be on the January transfer window deadline which comes at 11pm on Friday.Stags have already brought in three new faces in Harry Charsley and Joe Riley, who made slotted in perfectly for their full debuts against Bradford, and Kel Watts, who was drafted into the squad yesterday afternoon.With the versatility of the latter pair to be able to fill any position across the back or in midfield I can’t see any urgency to bring any more in now unless Stags were to lose one of their regular player to an offer the club can’t refuse.They certainly don’t seem to need anything more up front as all three main strikers Danny Rose, Nicky Maynard and Andy Cook seem to be finding the net almost every game at the moment while Craig Davies is getting fitter by the week and could yet play an important late cameo to the season.Youngster Jimmy Knowles had another brief taste of senior football for the last 17 minutes on Saturday and Coughlan has said he has high hopes for him while fellow youngster Jordan Graham will want to get himself off the treatment table as soon as possible to catch up on the ground he has already lost to the emerging Knowles.Coughlan also dropped a huge hint in saying players not involved should want to move on and play elsewhere with Jacob Mellis likely to be at the forefront of his thinking.