Flitcroft: One of the most important wins I’ve ever had

Posted Sunday, April 15, 2018 by PA

Mansfield manager David Flitcroft described the 1-0 win at rivals Chesterfield as one of the biggest of his career as his team revived their play-off challenge.

Chesterfield slipped closer to relegation from the Football League when Mal Benning landed the knock-out blow in the 67th minute.

There were few clear chances in a game full of intensity but short on quality and the visitors should have taken the lead when Benning’s cross found Danny Rose 10 yards out but Aaron Ramsdale saved with his legs.

Chesterfield had a chance in the 41st minute when Kristian Dennis cut inside and forced Conrad Logan into a diving save but Benning gave Ramsdale no chance when he got behind the home defence and scored from 15 yards.

Louis Dodds saw a shot deflect off Dennis and go just wide in the 79th minute but Mansfield held on for a first win under Flitcroft.

He said: “It’s not really sunk in yet what the lads have done. They’ve put their bodies on the line and they’ve given everything to the cause.

“I told them the importance of this match and what the history meant and what it meant to our supporters to travel across here and they displayed all the attributes you want from a team.

“Once we got the goal and had a clean sheet to protect it felt absolutely together and I’m delighted for the supporters who’ve come across in maximum numbers.

“It’s one of the most important wins I’ve ever had. I wanted this from day one and I’ve seen a team that can now go and drive the next part of the plan and it’s my job to make winning a part of the DNA of the club.”

Chesterfield manager Jack Lester’s frustrations boiled over when he was involved in a verbal spat with a fan after a game which leaves his team staring at relegation.

He said: “It’s really disappointing and I don’t think we quite lived up the needle of the game. I thought it was a 0-0 again and we didn’t have that cutting edge.

“Because we didn’t attack very well and because we weren’t very good on the ball we couldn’t get that momentum that would have lifted the whole stadium.

“We never passed two or three times to our own shirt and we didn’t attack well enough. It was basic technical detail and we didn’t really look like scoring.”