Stags aiming to brew up a win to halt losing run

After they were pipped 5-4 in stoppage time at high-flying Fleetwood, manager Paul Cox was furious with his side’s defending.

But he mellowed yesterday and said: “After a game I speak with my heart, but after watching the DVD, you can see we have gone to a club that have been in the top three all season and that have an excellent home record, and we have scored four times and seen their keeper make three world class saves.

“We also gifted them three of their five goals.

“But there were some excellent individual performances and I feel a bit gutted for some of the players as I don’t think they deserved to be on the losing side.

“Now we need to get back our focus and stop giving goals away. We have the nucleus here of a really good side, but we keep giving ourselves a mountain to climb.

“I know what these boys are capable of. Only seven or eight weeks ago people were tipping us for the promised land. We have just lost four on the trot but no one has out-played us. We just cut our own throat.”

Jamie McGuire serves the second of his three game ban tonight.

Lee Beevers (illness), Jake Speight (knee) and Lee Stevenson (ankle) all face fitness tests to face a Brewers side that currently sit seventh.