‘We must cut out the silly mistakes’, warns Mansfield Town boss Paul Cox

Paul Cox is demanding his Mansfield Town side cut out the ‘silly mistakes.’
Heartache for the Stags as Matt Sparrow's shot hits the back of the net for the Iron -Pic by:Richard ParkesHeartache for the Stags as Matt Sparrow's shot hits the back of the net for the Iron -Pic by:Richard Parkes
Heartache for the Stags as Matt Sparrow's shot hits the back of the net for the Iron -Pic by:Richard Parkes

Frustrated Cox has watched Stags slip to back-to-back defeats against Scunthorpe and Tranmere inside four days after poor defensive errors cost them dear.

But Cox says he is refusing to be too downbeat about the losses and says Mansfield are ‘not far off the mark.’

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“Over the last two performances we have competed well against two very good teams,” he said.

“It has been a baptism of fire, but we have not been that far away from being a decent side.

“We are giving away sloppy goals and that has got to stop.

“We talked about staying in games after the Scunthorpe game so it was very disappointing to concede the goals in the way that we did against Tranmere.

“We are creating chances and are not far off, but football is a game of fine margins. We will keep working hard.”

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Mansfield face Exeter City tomorrow in their first home game in the Football League since they were effectively relegated following a 1-0 defeat against Rotherham on 26th April 2008.

And Cox is now calling on his players to hit the ground running and return back to winning ways.

He added: “I want to see the standards raised to the next level so we can continue to be successful.

“We have put in some excellent foundations over the last two seasons, but we do not want to stand still.

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“We have got some good players in this squad and we need to maintain the standards we have set and believe in what we are good at.

“I might make some changes to the team for the game. We are looking at the shape and personnel in training, but any changes will just be a tweak because we are not far off.”

Mansfield are expected to include new signing Calvin Andrew in their squad after his registration was cleared by the Football League on Thursday.