Players froze says Holdsworth

DAVID Holdsworth felt his players froze in front of a bumper crowd at Field Mill, as they slipped to a crushing defeat against Gateshead.

The Stags were expected to sweep aside the struggling north east side, who had not won in seven league games.

Despite the club allowing fans to enter by paying just a penny, the 7,261 crowd were left disappointed as the Stags slipped to a 2-0 defeat.

The Stags boss said: "The first goal was a slice of luck with the deflection, but if you don't shoot you don't score.

"The start knocked us for six and whether it was the occasion and the bigger crowd, I don't know, but we just froze. Unfortunately we did not put crosses in, we did not provide support and it bounced off us too much up top. It was disappointing.

"If you cannot deal with 7,000 fans you should not be a footballer. I am not going to make excuses because the fans were excellent, the club has done a great job with this gesture to the community. But the players, once they have crossed that line, have not stepped up so they must take responsibility.

"I do not mind suffering a defeat but the first-half performance was shocking.

"I said the start was all-important and they got the start they needed. We did not show character or the response we were looking for.

"Their midfield dominated ours, won a lot more second balls than we did and that had a huge bearing on the game."

Holdsworth kept his players in the dressing room for more than half hour after the final whistle to discuss the inept performance.

And he wants to see a reaction against high-flying Stevenage tomorrow night.

He said: "We had a big discussion afterwards and one thing was about character and we spoke about things that needed to be addressed.

"That will remain private but, as a manager and a football club, it is important we see a positive reaction."