OPINION: There will be stiffer challenges ahead but Mansfield Town have laid the foundations for a great first season back in League One

Four wins on the bounce - and impressive victories at that with just two goals conceded in the process - has left Nigel Clough’s side sitting pretty in third spot.

It would be a good start by any team’s standards, but even more so when you’re a promoted club moving into a League One universally described as being ‘the toughest ever.’

Of course critics may well say they are games Mansfield should have won. Afterall, they beat four teams all struggling for points and occupying four of the bottom six places.

But that would be taking a rather misleading and insincere view, as well as totally overlooking just how hard Mansfield had to graft for those points.

You can only beat what is put in front of you and plucky Stags were well tested in each of those games and found the solutions needed to solve the puzzle.

Shrewsbury Town and Cambridge United will most likely get relegated, but they still made it tough going for Stags, who certainly rode their luck at times before getting the rewards.

Northampton would have been out of sight without Christy Pym and some better finishing. They all showed that every win in League One is still very tough to come by.

Finishing has proved to be the difference so far with Stags able to defend resolutely with good organisation and a tireless work-rate that gives them a chance in any game.

And that, alongside having perhaps League One’s best keeper between the sticks and the division’s top goalscorer at the other end, you’re always going to have a great chance of getting the points.

But stiffer tasks are on the way, starting this Saturday when Steve Bruce’s in-form Blackpool come to town.

That will be followed by a tough away day at Wigan Athletic and two of the biggest tests of the season with games against big-spending league leaders Birmingham City and Hollywood Wrexham.

Once those games are done and dusted we can judge much better how Stags will fare this season. Is it just a good run right now before a slide down the table follows or can we dare to dream about flirting with a play-off place?

The likelihood is that Stags will drop down a few places but, already with a ten point cushion on fourth-bottom Crawley and confidence flowing, Nigel Clough’s battling squad have already shown they will have more than enough in the tank to avoid any nervous relegation battles.

Those fears will no doubt have been in the mind of a number of the fans who left Sincil Bank in a dispirited mood after Lincoln dished out a tough lesson in the reality of League One football.

That 4-1 drubbing, and a first defeat of the season, showed the standards Stags need to hit and how much you can be punished in this league if you are off your game.

It’s been some response since then with 13 points from the next five games built on a rock-solid defence and good old fashioned grit and team togetherness.

The Stags squad has been severely tested in that time due to injuries and there’s plenty of quality in the likes of Aden Flint, Flazer Blake-Tracy, George Maris and Lucas Akins working their way back to bolster the ranks.

But the squad has stood up perfectly to the strain with Aaron Lewis and Ben Waine, to name but two, showing their quality and desire to fight for place by impacting games from the bench..

Where Stags will finish this season, only time will tell, but wherever it takes us it’s going to be a great first season back in League One.

It took us a while to get here, Now that we’re here let’s enjoy the journey.

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