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"This was one of the hardest games we've had this season. Mansfield didn't look a bottom of the table side. If they play the rest of the season like they did against us then they won't stay bottom. You've got to give credit to Mansfield - they were bold and brave. They effectively played a 3-4-3 system.
"We weren't complacent tonight. We struggled because of the system they were playing and because of the quality they showed. We weren't expecting either. All that Mansfield were missing was a goal. We didn't get to grips with them until the end of the first half although I thought we were the better side in the second half and just about deserved to win.
"Mansfield posed us a lot of problems but I thought we were a lot better in the second half. This is a big result for us. People said it was going to be easy for us because it was top against bottom, but this was a tough match.
"We produced a gritty performance - if you have ambitions of winning the league then you've got to win matches like this one. I want to win the championship. First and foremost, I want to go up. But I do want to win the championship and to do that you have to win at places like Mansfield."
"Kav is a great deliverer of the ball although we haven't been doing too well at set-pieces this season" said the City manager. "And when you put in a good set-piece there is no better person than Thorney to get on the end of them.
"Now we're top of the table and we've got to stay there. We've got Peterborough at home on Saturday and we've got to make sure we get three points from that one."
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"I have always said that if my players can look me in the eye and say they have given everything then I won't have a pop at them. And I really could not have asked any more from them against Cardiff apart from maybe converting their chances. They did everything I asked of them and, most importantly, they got the ball down and passed it. We could not have done any better against the quality of players we were up against.
"I thought we were unlucky not to get one of two penalty shouts and I also thought the referee should have added more time on at the end. But they are minor details that shouldn't detract from our performance."
"We had a game plan to make them go long and try to stop them passing it from the back. For the majority of the game it worked well though on the occasions they did get out you could tell their quality.
"Sam Hammam said to me afterwards that he couldn't believe we were bottom. He said we played like a side at the top and we should keep playing like that, keep passing, not get dejected and keep on believing. I said thank you very much Sam but could you please tell my chairman!"