Jones backs stags to bounce back

STAGS defender Luke Jones has backed his side to bounce back from their Gateshead nightmare, when they travel to automatic promotion chasing Stevenage tomorrow.

Mansfield were beaten 2-0 at home by the Blue Square Premier strugglers on Saturday at Field Mill.

But Jones believes they can prove themselves when they travel south as they look to get their promotion bid back on track.

He said: "Stevenage are a good side and the table does not lie. It will be a tough game, but it is one we want to bounce back in and we feel we have enough in the dressing room to do that. There is no reason why we should not go there confident.

"We are in fourth, teams do have games in hand but we will see how it goes."

He said he was gutted with how Mansfield performed at the weekend in front of a big crowd.

"We go home disappointed and it is a game in which we felt we did not do enough, especially in the first half," said Jones.

"It is about bouncing back and trying to put things right and we will look to do that. We will work on things, but mistakes have cost us. All over the pitch we were not at the races.

"I do not think we gave up at any point as we tried to do the right things and create chances. In other games we might have had a bit of luck but the first-half performance and conceding early in the second half really killed us."