Mansfield boss David Flitcroft hails squad depth after Cheltenham win - 7M sport

Mansfield boss David Flitcroft hails squad depth after Cheltenham win



Posted Sunday, March 03, 2019 by PA

Mansfield boss David Flitcroft hails squad depth after Cheltenham win

Mansfield boss David Flitcroft praised the contribution of his squad players after their 4-2 win over Cheltenham Town.

Mansfield hit the front went Hamilton tapped home into an empty net in the 42nd minute and he doubled the lead three minutes later when he calmly slotted in after getting away from his marker.

Hamilton was denied a hat-trick by a smart save by Scott Flinders as he attempted to round the goalkeeper just after the restart.

However, Cheltenham hit back when Chris Hussey curled in a beautiful free-kick home in the 59th minute and Raglan glanced a header in from a corner nine minutes later.

Flinders brilliantly kept out Jorge Grant before Atkinson headed home from a corner after 77 minutes to restore the hosts’ lead.

MacDonald slotted home on the break to get his first goal after returning from injury to wrap up victory for third-placed Mansfield, which left Flitcroft delighted with the involvement of his fringe players.

“The squad shone through today and that is what the game is about. Will Atkinson and Alex (MacDonald) have both played a big part in this win,” he said.

“It is really pleasing today, there are many positives. Everyone is playing a part.

“The players that aren’t involved at the moment are all down there and there is a real team spirit, that is important.

“The players have really stepped up today and embraced the responsibility.

“Scoring four goals without Tyler Walker is a real standout moment for us as we have relied on his goals.

“At 2-2, we had to work hard to get the momentum back and the players fought hard to do that.

“We looked comfortable at 3-2 but that is always a dangerous score and we needed that fourth goal.

“Cheltenham caused us some real problems and issues in the second half. This was a tough game and a very pleasing win.”

Cheltenham boss Michael Duff was left frustrated by his side’s failure to hang on to a point.

“We would have taken 2-2. of course, but we wanted to be adventurous,” he said.

“We are not a top three or four team like Mansfield, but spirit and quality like that show we can be a better team than what we are.

“We have paid the price for some individual errors which is frustrating. We played well today but gave some poor goals away.

“The players have done all we asked of them.

“I thought we did brilliantly to get back in to the game. We showed some real quality there and caused one of the best teams in the division some real problems.

“It is disappointing that we did not hold on to the point, but we have shown ourselves the standards that we can reach.

“We need to build on this now and produce displays like this much more often. If we do that then we can get higher in the table.”

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