Mansfield Town will need to show different side to their game as leaders Crewe visit One Call Stadium

Stags stood up well to the physical battle in a bruising 2-1 win at Northampton Town last weekend, but Coughlan said they would need to adopt a much more quality footballing game plan this weekend and believes they will need to master both styles to have success next season.

“There are some good footballing teams in this division and we aim to be good at both sorts – the physical and the technical,” said Coughlan.

“I believe you need to be good at both in League Two, though that changes as you go up the divisions.

“The be all and end all of any game of football is if you don't do the basics right you will be in trouble. But the basics were spot on from us last Saturday at Northampton.

“That was a totally different side to our game – the character, the heart of the sleeve, the bodies on the line. That was exceptional what we stood up against on Saturday.

“We sat our our 18-yard line just defending bombs coming into our box all afternoon. But when the opportunity came to play some football on a tricky pitch against tough opponents I thought we did.

“It was gruelling but the lads stood up to it to be counted. It was a great character-building exercise for our lads. It showed they are playing for the badge and the club and what it means to them.”

Stags now sit 16 points clear of the drop with only 10 games to go, but Coughlan said he never been worried about looking below them.

He also said it was a shock that fans should be even talking about relegation from League Two after recent seasons pushing for promotion.

“In my career I have never been one to look over my shoulder,” he said.

“I always knew there was enough in this group. I just needed to set the environment right and get the mentality and fitness levels right going forward for next season. That's what we are working on.

“I would not have been able to tell you how many points as I don't look over my shoulder. I look at what is above me and try to catch them. I try to haul them in from above rather than from behind.”

Coughlan said Stags should not be worrying about EFL survival but admitted wins had been far harder to come by than he thought they would since he took over mid-season.

“A points gap to safety I would suggest, looking in from the outside, were words that last August nobody at Mansfield Town would have suggested. I would not have said them from the outside either,” he said.

“The fact we are talking about safety and getting enough points to stave off relegation does not sit well with me. This football club should not be where it is. This group of players should not be where it is.

“This club is geared for bigger and better than that and I just hope I will be able to deliver.

“When I came in the ship needed steadying. It needed organisation and structure. It needed maybe a bit of a firm hand with the players to point them in the right direction.

“I am as guilty of this as anyone, but we didn't quite get the results I wanted.”

He added: “Maybe call me Walter Mitty or laughable if you wish, but when I came through the front door and win every football match that we took part in. That's the way I am built. So I possibly let people down as we've not won every game.

“I have been building since I came in and we're looking forward to the next nine games. We are looking forward to restoring a little bit of pride – not juts for the football club but also for personal pride.

“Each and every member of staff and each and every player has taken a little bit of a battering this season – quite rightly so as it hasn't been good enough. We are not shying away from that fact.

“We are building towards next season, but if anyone does take their eye off the ball this season I will come down on them like a ton of bricks.”