LOMAS ON MANSFIELD TOWN: Survival fight looms as Stags long for end to dire season

Some things have definitely improved since Graham Coughlan took over as manager in mid-December – increased fitness and hunger very apparent to the naked eye.

But still the defensive lapses and fragile confidence of the players remain.

Those issues cost John Dempster his job as manager and replacement Coughlan has still only been able to squeeze two wins out of his squad in his 12 games in charge and only a single clean sheet.

Last weekend's late blow at Morecambe saw two more precious points drain away before providing Leyton Orient with only their fourth home win all season on Tuesday.

At Morecambe once again there was an element of bad luck about the late goal as a corner caught on the wind and dramatically slowed, catching out keeper Bobby Olejnik and his defence.

Ironically, a defeat for bottom club Stevenage at the same time meant the result at Morecambe became a point gained and extended Stags' gap to the single relegation place at the bottom to 10 points, that gap maintained on Tuesday as both sides lost.

Six defeats in a row, five in the league, and just one League Two win in their last 17 games suggest the Boro's 10-year stay in the EFL may be about to end.

But Stags, Morecambe, Macclesfield and a handful of other clubs just above them will still all be nervously looking over their shoulders, hoping to limp through to the end of the campaign and stay in the EFL thanks to someone else being poorer than themselves.

Stags now desperately need to get points on the board against Newport County on Saturday looking at the games that come after that.

Mansfield's next four games are all against top seven sides – Cheltenham Town, leaders Swindon Town, Northampton Town and Crewe Alexandra.

Any points taken from those games will have to be earned the hard way.

And no one wants Stags to be heading to Stevenage at Easter with anything other than pride at stake.

With Hayden White and Alex MacDonald set to find fitness and increase competition, if the January loanees can find their feet and play to their capabilities and Stags can achieve enough points to be safe to further blood youngsters, we could yet have an enjoyable end to a dire campaign that would also bode well for next season with Coughlan's summer additions.

No one cares how Stags reach the 50-52-point mark now, just that it happens quickly to ease those niggling nerves.

With what happened to Chesterfield and Notts County up and down the road from the One Call Stadium in recent seasons, no one at Mansfield Town would be daft enough to say Stags are too good to go down.

But thankfully the truth is that there are currently poorer sides than Mansfield – but only just.

Staying above them is going to take some immense work, both physically and mentally.

The way Stags allowed Carlisle to net a late leveller amid late panic as a 2-0 lead evaporated and then the way Morecambe almost forced a winner after their late equaliser last weekend tells you all you need to know about the mental state of the Mansfield squad.

Players' inner cool and professionalism is being affected by a huge state of panic that envelopes them when close to seeing out a game.

That stems from so many hammer blows over the season and is something no amount of fitness improvement will solve.

A summer break and the chance to put this season of disaster behind them and start afresh may be the only solution.