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Archived News from September 2015

MURRAY, BLAIR, DEREK ADAMS REACTION
30th September 2015 19:30


Murray wants his side 'to believe’ after Plymouth draw
mansfieldtown.net,26th September 2015

Stags’ boss Adam Murray says his side need to believe how good they are after holding high-flying Plymouth Argyle to a draw at One Call Stadium this afternoon.

A hard-fought contest saw both sides take a point from their latest Sky Bet League Two fixture whilst also extending the Stags’ unbeaten home run to five games.

Read more at http://www.mansfieldtown.net/news/article/murray-wants-his-side-to-believe-after-plymouth-draw-2712409.aspx#xIQdcpJAIt2fMRVX.99

Murray was pleased with how the Stags grew into the game but says when his young side start to have faith in how good they are, they will begin to cause problems for any team in the league.

“My biggest frustration at the minute is that my team isn’t believing 100% how good it is. We’re a very good team,” Murray said.

“[In the] second half, like [at] Luton, we came out and there was a little bit more spark. Because we’ve got a lot of young kids, we need to get them believing how good they are as individuals and as a team and when we do that, we’ll cause every team in this league problems.

“It’s part of the building process, this new group coming together. When we get to where we need to be, however long that will take, we’re going to be an excellent team and we’ve come up against one of the best teams in this league this afternoon and we looked strong.”

Murray added: “The good thing for me, in a strange way, is the boys are sat in there [in the chaning room] like we’ve lost because we expect to win games week in, week out.”

Plymouth’s team selection came as somewhat of a surprise to Murray but he took that as a compliment and a recognition of the strength of his side.

“They’re an exceptional team and before the game they changed their shape, put different personnel in there and changed the way they play, which I took as a mark of respect to our team.

“We wanted a win today and we’ve always said that no matter what happens this season we don’t want to lose two on the bounce.

“[It’s a] good point but I felt we did enough [in the] second half to win it.”

After seeing his side have to defend well in the early stages of the game to nullify the Pilgrims’ threat, Murray made a change to the shape of his side and says that they grew into the game afterwards.

“They came and made it a ‘second-ball game’ and we couldn’t get Westy (Craig Westcarr) in the game. We were getting overrun in midfield so we went to the three [in] midfield and I felt that suited Jack (Thomas) a little bit better.

“We tried to get our wide players, especially [in the] second half, a little bit wider as I thought we were too central [in the] first half which wasn’t allowing Chappy (Adam Chapman) to have many options, everything was straight,” Murray continued.

“I felt second half that we got back into the game and we sensed blood. We put Adi (Yussuf) on and went ‘two up’ and we probably should’ve took a couple of our chances or make the ‘keeper work a little bit better.”

Murray’s final word was for the returning Matty Blair who came on as a substitute for first time since he suffered a knee injury in January.

“He’s worked hard to get himself where he is, he’s still a few weeks away from getting to play large parts of the game. He’s got probably 45 minutes in him at the minute so it’s just about building Matty’s fitness up and I think we showed today that he had opportunity to get the ball in the box and we nearly scored.”

Listen to Adam Murray's interview in full on Stags Player.

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Mansfield Town manager Adam Murray urges players to believe in their ability after draw
chad.co.uk, by John Lomas, Saturday 26 September 2015

Mansfield Town manager Adam Murray said as soon as he can get his side believing in how good they actually are, he can see them causing problems for every other team in the division.

The Stags were held 0-0 at home by high-riding Plymouth Argyle this afternoon, not creating much but defending superbly to deny a powerful Pilgrims outfit top spot.

“We haven’t lost and I am always happy when we don’t lose football matches, but we did have chances to take the game,” he said.

http://www.chad.co.uk/sport/mansfield-town/mansfield-town-news/mansfield-town-manager-adam-murray-urges-players-to-believe-in-their-ability-after-draw-1-7482523

“Plymouth are an exceptional team and before the game they changed their shape and put different personnel in there and changed the way they play which I took as a mark of respect to our team.

“First half we were slow out the blocks. We didn’t control the game enough. Second half, like Luton, there was a bit more spark.

“My biggest frustration at the minute is that it doesn’t seem 100 per cent that my team believes in how good it is. We are a very good team.

“Because we have a lot of young kids we need to get them believing how good they are as individuals and as a team.

“When we do that we will cause every team in this league problems. It’s part of the building process.”

He added: “We have come up against one of the best teams in this league this afternoon and looked strong.

“That belief will only come with results. They need to have that confidence to keep expressing themselves as an individual.

“Don’t worry about mistakes as you sometimes have to make mistakes to get better. That’s a time thing. It won’t happen overnight. We can’t click our fingers and everyone go in and have two pints of belief.

“The good thing for me in a strange way is the boys are in there and it’s like we’ve lost as they expect us to win games week in week out.

“We wanted the win today. But we said from the start of the season that whatever happens this season we are going to aim to never lose two on the bounce. It was a good point but I thought we did enough second half to win it.

“We got the base in the game that I like to do, put Adi on, went two up top and I felt we should have won it.

“The only time they were going to break us down was from a corner or our mistakes.

“We haven’t got one of the best defensive records in our division for no reason.”

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Emotional moment for returning winger
mansfieldtown.net, 26th September 2015

Winger Matty Blair described the moment he entered the field of play this afternnon as 'emotional' as the wingman returned to action after an eight month lay-off.

Blair sustained a cruciate knee ligament injury after falling awkwardly in February in a match at Carlisle United on only his third appearance for the club and has been out ever since.

The 27-year-old was introduced to the action in the 79th minute by Stags' manager Adam Murray in a goalless draw against Plymouth Argyle this afternoon.

Read more at http://www.mansfieldtown.net/news/article/blair-post-plymouth-2712354.aspx#3o6hFW6gp0rVefpA.99

"It's been a long hard seven months but it's great to get my first 11 minutes under the belt and I look forward to Tuesday now," the former Fleetwood Town man said

"It was an emotional moment for me, it's more mental rather than physical but I've got to thank everybody, my friends and family, they've been a big help for me.

"As the game went on I was wondering if I was going to get a chance and get to come on because the game was so balanced, but the gaffer showed faith in me."

Despite an all-action 11-minute showing in an entertaining affair against the Pilgrims, the Warwick-born player has hinted that he won't be back to peak fitness for a few weeks yet.

"I'm still three or four games away from full match fitness but training wise I've looked good, I've looked fit and strong.

"The target for me is to break back into the first team starting but that won't be happening any time soon. A couple of bench appearances, a couple of games in the week just to get that match sharpness back and then I want to be a big part of this first team."

The tricky flank-player says that he feels even stronger physically on his return to action for the Stags after such a long spell on the sidelines, which has helped him strengthen in areas he's needed to.

"I feel strong. [My legs] have actually got a bit of muscle on them now, my cousin told me the other day my legs are quite big. I'm getting better and hopefully I've still got my pace, and they should be stronger.

"I didn't really do any gym work before the injury but I've been hard at it," he added.

To watch the interview in full, log into Stags Player [http://www.player.mansfieldtown.net]

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Matty Blair thanks fans for an emotional return to the Mansfield Town side
chad.co.uk, by John Lomas

Matty Blair admitted he felt highly emotional as he ran onto the One Call Stadium pitch as a late substitute in yesterday’s 0-0 home draw with Plymouth Argyle after eight months sidelined with a serious knee injury.

Stags fans gave Blair a warm welcome as he replaced Nathan Thomas for his first proper action since his cruciate knee ligament injury at Carlisle at the end of January.

“It felt very emotional just coming back on,” he said. “Obviously I got a good reception from the fans which I appreciated dearly.

http://www.hucknalldispatch.co.uk/sport/local-sport/matty-blair-thanks-fans-for-an-emotional-return-to-the-mansfield-town-side-1-7482609?

“It’s been seven months’ hard work, more mental than physical, and I’ve got to thank everybody on my half of the family, my girlfriend, my friends, everybody - they’ve been a big help for me.

“As the game went on I thought I don’t know if I’m going to get my chance as the game was so balanced. But the gaffer showed good faith in me.

“It felt really good. It’s been a long, hard seven months so it was great to get my first 10 minutes under my belt and I am now looking forward to Tuesday.

“I am nowhere near fully fit. Match-time, obviously that will come. I’ve had 10 minutes today and 45 minutes during the week. But I am still three or four games away yet from being fully match fit, though training-wise I feel fit and strong.”

Blair almost carved out a winning goal for Adi Yussuf with his first cross, the finish going wide.

“It would have been a great start to come back to,” he smiled. “I was told to just get down the outside and get as many crosses in as I could.

“The opportunity was there for me to do it. I smashed it across.

“Adi’s made a great run to the front post but just put it the wrong side. If it had gone in then it would have been happy days, but we go again Tuesday.

“My target now is to break back into the first team starting, though that won’t happen any time soon. Then I want to be a big part of this team.”

Blair feels the gym work he has had to do will see him come back bigger and stronger.

“The gaffer says I have got big sparrow legs,” said Blair. “I have actually got a bit of muscle on them now. I feel strong now. I am getting better and hopefully I have still got my pace.

“I didn’t do any sort of gym work before the injury. But the medical team as well as the consultant couldn’t stress enough how important it is.”

Boss Adam Murray said: “He has worked hard to get himself where he is.

“He is still a few weeks away from being fit enough to play large parts of a game.

“We are still building Matty’s fitness up, but he showed today, he’s had one opportunity to put the ball in there and we nearly scored.”

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twitter
Nathan Thomas @Naththomas19
Good point for us today, possibly could of taken all 3 but very happy not to lose to my old club #stags

Matty Blair @MattyBlair17
Feels so good to be back!! Thank you to everyone for all your support. Great point today, sets up nicely for 3 on Tuesday.

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Derek Rues Chances Missed
by Chris Groves, pafc.co.uk

DEREK Adams believes his Argyle had plenty of chances to sweep aside Mansfield Town, but were forced to settle for 0-0 draw.

Sure enough, a week after recording their first draw of the season against Bristol Rovers, the Greens were in another stalemate at the One Call Stadium - though the outcome could have been made very different in the first half.

Read more at http://www.pafc.co.uk/news/article/derek-rues-chances-missed-2712938.aspx#8v0J2HIy6yI3pED3.99

The likes of Ryan Brunt, Graham Carey and Reuben Reid all came close to opening the scoring in the game’s opening half-hour, and those chances alone make Adams believe the draw was a missed opportunity for his side.

“It’s two points lost, obviously,” said Derek. “We’ve hit the bar a couple of times and probably should’ve been out of sight in the first half.

“We did very well for 30 minutes in the first half - we could’ve had four or five goals in the first period. We dominated for half an hour, and I’m delighted with the play we’ve had.

“We’ve played better than that at times, but we’ve opened up Mansfield on numerous occasions in the first half.”

Brunt and Josh Simpson came into the side for the game, and the boss had high praise for the way that both of them slotted in to an altered setup against the Stags.

“Josh is an experienced player,” said Adams, “and he played that position well today.

“It’s not easy coming into your first game, but he stopped play, he made passes forward, and he gave us a good influence in the middle of the pitch today.”

As for Brunt, Derek said: “He did well in the first half, when he took the ball on, won some headers. We played off of him, we played off of [Reuben] Reid and [Jake] Jervis as well.

“Sometimes you don’t get the goal, and then you’ve got to take a point at some point in the game. Mansfield are going to come back into it. We didn’t really get in behind them in the second half. They’re a good side - they’ve done well this season.

“You always want to win games, but sometimes you have to come away from home, take a point and move on to the next game."

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Latest | September 2015