Mansfield Town v Walsall: Danny Guthrie fired up and ready to get after the struggling Stags

A 13-game unbeaten League Two run came to an end on Tuesday night when high-flying Cambridge United deservedly left the Banks’s Stadium with all three points.

Now, the Saddlers travel to face the only team left in the fourth tier yet to win a game this season and Guthrie is adamant that they must attack from the off.

When asked how they will approach tomorrow’s clash, Guthrie said: “Go and put it on them, I think.

“When you’re struggling the last thing that you want is a team with energy and playing on the front foot.

“We’ve got to put this behind us, start the game well on Saturday and go away and pick three points up.

“It’s massive. We dust ourselves down, it’s a massive game for us now.

“We can’t let this fester, we got beat – that’s fair enough, they’ve done a number but we go again Saturday and we need three points.”

Guthrie added: “The boys have got to take a lot of confidence in what they’ve done since February and not let this fester for as long as it needs to.

“It’s a defeat, we were always going to get beat somewhere along the line and it’s happened.

“On Saturday, we’ve got to come out and put it on them early doors. They’re struggling and we need to make it difficult for them.”

Meanwhile, manager Darrell Clarke is demanding a response from his players after the disappointing result and performance on Tuesday.

“You have to dust yourself down – games are coming thick and fast and we can’t feel sorry for ourselves too long,” Clarke said.

“We have another game to go on Saturday, so let’s look for that response.

“You have to make sure you don’t get that shock to the system, it’s important now for a response and how we deal with that.

“I’m expecting the group to deal with that quite well and to make sure we do that we’re training Thursday and Friday to be ready for the game Saturday.

“When you lose a game you want to get out there for the next game straight away, so we’ll have to show that in our performance on Saturday.”

Born in Mansfield, Clarke came through the club’s academy as a player and spent six years there as a fan favourite.

Despite undoubtedly looking forward to returning to the club he supported as a child, when asked if he was relishing going back, he said: “I just want to win football matches.

“I look forward to going back if I win the game.”

Although the Stags, who this week sacked boss Graham Coughlan, have made their worst start to an EFL season and are struggling towards the bottom of League Two, Clarke believes consistency is the main factor and is expecting a tough game.

“They are (struggling) but there’s nothing between the top and bottom,” Clarke added.

“There’s that consistency levels at the top teams and we’ve had consistency albeit with too many draws.

“We have to look to keep winning games and we’ll be going out to win every single football match, whether a team we’re going to is struggling or a top team. We’ll try and win them all.”

Clarke will have some selection headaches as he continues to battle between choosing his preferred XI and managing the testing schedule.

Cameron Norman is expected to return at right-back following Hayden White’s disappointing showing in midweek, while Zak Jules will hope to keep his place with captain James Clarke expected to be sidelined for a couple weeks.

Guthrie’s inclusion will be a talking point after the 33-year-old played 90 minutes against Cambridge. Both the player and manager have been keeping tabs on Guthrie’s game time to ensure he stays injury free, but he may be needed against Mansfield to unlock their defence.