United boss John Sheridan confirmed that his side heads to Mansfield in confident mood at the weekend following what has been a good haul of two points per game from the opening five league fixtures of the season.
“That’s all it is, a good start to the season,” he insisted. “That’s not me putting a downer on anything by the way. I’m chuffed to bits and I’ve told the players that they’ve started well.
“If you look at the points tally, it’s good from the five games we’ve had, but I know what this league is all about and I know how quickly it can turn on you.
“I give full credit to the players who, after losing the first game and drawing against Northampton, have responded really well. Three wins out of three games gets us in a decent position and it’s up to us to do the work to stay where we are at the moment.”
With Blues fans rightly excited about the style of football on show from Sheridan’s charges, he said: “I’ve said before that I don’t get carried away, but I do want people to enjoy it. I try not to change too much in myself because I do know what can be just around the corner.
“You can be winning games, but you can easily go on a run and lose four or five. The lads are happy at the moment, and there’s nothing better than winning games to lift things for a club. It’s good for everybody involved.
“I’ve always said that I want us to aim high and that’s exactly what I want the players to believe they can do.”
Speaking more about the fans, he said: “I think they appreciate the way we’re trying to play. We do try to get forward as much as possible and my team selections are always with us looking to win games.
“If supporters see you putting effort in they’ll back you all the way. I want us to play attractive football, but I think the fans will show their support if you dig in and grind things out as well. All they want is to see that their players are giving it everything.
“We’ll be up and down with our performances, but if we can get the players to 7 or 7.5 every week, we’ll be fine. It’s no good giving me a 9, then a 6, just get to 7 every week and we’ll be there.”
As for what we can expect from David Flitcroft’s unbeaten side, he told us: “They’re a good team and they have some good players. They’re very attack-minded, they want to get forward, and they’re unbeaten, even though they’ve drawn a few games.
“I know Dave well, he’s a good manager, and his teams always play good football. He has players who are good at this level, there’s Craig Davies, who I’ve had a few times at other clubs, and he’s an excellent striker for this league.
“We’re going there buoyant and we’re going to try to win it. I want the lads to believe in themselves and, with the good run of form they’re on, I want them going there thinking they’re going to get something.
“I want the supporters going down there thinking we’re going to win as well, and I want to get that mindset into everyone involved with the club.”
“They’re one of the teams I think will be up there come the end of the season with the squad of players they have,” he concluded. “If we play like we have been of late, and we keep creating chances, then we’ll have a good chance of getting something. Hopefully it’ll be an entertaining game.
“I’m sure there’ll be periods where we’ll have to defend, but we haven’t conceded too many goals, and hopefully that will continue as well.”
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