Nicky Maynard says Mansfield Town must take it one game at a time as they look to rescue sinking season

Stags are currently third bottom of the League Two table and 11 points off the play-off pace.

And while Mansfield do not expect to be in a relegation battle, Maynard knows talks of fulfilling their pre-season ambitions is a long way off.

“We are not expecting to be in a relegation battle, but we are in one right now,” he said.

“We have to hopefully get the three points on Saturday and take it one game at a time.

“It's a cliche but that's what we need to do. We went in to the season thinking we would be in and around the play-offs.

“We can't look too far ahead with the start we have had, its day by day, game by game and see where it takes us.”

Maynard is yet to get off the mark this season and is hopeful he can start to bag the goals needed to help Mansfield climb the table.

“I feel that I'm responsible in a way for getting the goals and for us not scoring enough,” he added.

“As a team we are not creating enough chances. We are hard on ourselves as strikers, I'm hard on myself.

“I’ve had few chances but I expect to be off the mark by now. All strikers are hungry to score more goals and I'm hungry enough to do that.”

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