Craig Priest writes... It seems an eternity since our last game against Lincoln in the FA Cup, I’ll be honest I hope the trip to Hyde tomorrow passes its 10am pitch inspection as not only does no football drive me insane, I’m hoping the euphoria surrounding Liverpool can be forgotten and our focus can return to the bread and butter. Not for a second am I suggesting the Liverpool match is irrelevant or even pointless, I’m really looking forward to the match and the experience it brings, I’m just hoping that we can channel the excitement and buzz into climbing towards the play-offs and achieving our real dream: promotion. There’s no doubt we’re on a buzz of form at the minute, performances aside the ingredients and final outcomes have been pleasing with just one defeat in eleven outings, we’re scoring goals too with ten goals netted in the last four games – with consistency in the selection too thinks are looking merry as we approach of festive fixtures. My worry is that the thought of Liverpool will distract us a little and we’ll become arrogant in our approach ‘why bother against Hyde when we’ve got Liverpool soon’ – we need to steer clear of such thoughts as despite Scott McNiven’s side having been the clubs basement side back in October, they’ve had a great month or so since and have clawed their way back up the table to 16th with some impressive wins, a 3-1 away win at leaders Newport and a 7-0 battering of Woking games to take note of. I think Stags’ early season poor away form has gone now, touch wood, but I think we must be cautious tomorrow against a side that have scored 16 goals in their last six home games. There are some talented players in the Hyde squad; Phil Jevons has 15 goals to his name so far with Scott Spencer behind him on eight. It will be a tough place to travel and I’m sure Paul Cox will have his players fired up and ready for the challenge, this season can be about more than just Liverpool – let’s go and prove it. LAST TIME WE MET The sides met for the first time ever in their history back in August when Matt Green’s strike proved the different as Stags took all three points in a 1-0 victory. Stags have never visited Ewan Fields before; let’s hope they have more success on visiting new territory than they did earlier in the campaign as they crashed at Dartford. Click here to listen to audio highlights TEAM NEWS There’s seems to be no fresh knocks ahead of our trip to Ewan Fields, defender Ryan Tafazolli is due back in training soon whilst long term injure Ross Dyer is set to start running soon. MATCH COVERAGE If you can’t get to Hyde tomorrow then join me for full match commentary on the fixture, build up starts at 2pm on Takeover 106.9FM and via our MM-Live Page – Please remember that tomorrow’s game is subject to a pitch inspection at 10am.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not those of Mansfield Matters or it’s related organisations – To submit a blog email mtfcmatters@gmail.com
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