Harrogate Town v Mansfield Town: Pragmatic approach will win us games, says James Belshaw

The Sulphurites entertain Nigel Clough's Stags at the EnviroVent Stadium aiming to bounce back from the disappointment of a 3-1 defeat at Scunthorpe United last time out.

Saturday saw Town - who have enjoyed plenty of success in recent years playing incisive, passing football - once again opting to take the direct route for long periods of the contest.

And, while not particularly pleasing on the eye, such an approach has served the club well in a number of games this season, including their previous showdown with Mansfield, back in November.

Citing the current condition of the majority of the division's playing surfaces as one key factor, Harrogate's goalkeeper believes that, for the time being at least, it may be necessary to worry about substance over style as they look to put more daylight between themselves and the relegation zone.

"In this division, if you take Salford City and Forest Green out of the equation, there aren't really too many other teams who I think are really looking to get the ball down and play. Take Carlisle as an example. They're one of the favourites to win the title and all they did against us the other night was go long," Belshaw said.

"More or less every game in League Two is attritional. Every week it feels like we are going into a battle and, while I do think there are some occasions when we could be braver on the ball and play a bit more, a lot of pitches are not really suited to that currently.

"We are a footballing team, we've had a lot of success playing a certain way over the last few years and of course the lads want to get on the ball and bop it around, but there are a lot of times when you just have to take the direct approach.

"It's about being pragmatic. It's horses for courses and it's about doing the right things to win you games. If I have to kick the ball long to Azza [Aaron Martin] or Becky [Mark Beck] every time I get it for 90 minutes and we end up with three points, then I'm happy doing that. It's results that matter.

"Nobody should be under any illusions. Our only target this season is to stay in the Football League and we just need to get as many points on the board as we can as quickly as possible."

Town certainly adopted a pragmatic approach when they won 1-0 at Mansfield back in November, grinding out a much-needed away win on a night which did indeed see them go direct to the head of Beck on numerous occasions.

It was a no-frills performance, but one that saw them defend resolutely, and Belshaw believes that a similar approach could be the order of the day once again.

"Last time we played Mansfield we scored a fairly early goal and spent most of the rest of the match defending our lead, but I didn't really have a save to make," the 30-year-old added.

"If that's what we need to do again tonight then that's what we'll do. We've shown in that game, in the Carlisle game more recently, and on a number of other occasions that we are capable of doing so.

"That's what Cheltenham did to us a couple of weeks ago. They went in front then sat back and soaked up pressure and you've seen how many games in this division are decided by who scores first. Most of our wins and losses this season have been by a one-goal margin."

Saturday saw Town gift hosts Scunthorpe two goals courtesy of defensive lapses, and while he admits that he finds such sloppiness frustrating, Belshaw says he would be more concerned if his defence was being ripped apart by opponents in open play.

"It's frustrating that mistakes have cost us in that game, but on the flip side, there's a positive to take from it," the former Walsall stopper continued.

'We were right in the game at Scunthorpe until they scored a worldie in the 90th minute. We never really got going, to be honest, but we were always in the game.

"It's not like we've been getting carved open in games and totally outplayed. It's not as if we're giving our all every week but just not getting any points because we are not quite good enough. I think that would probably be worse.

"The fact that we are frustrated to come away from places like Scunthorpe and Tranmere empty-handed says an awful lot."

Kick-off between Town and Mansfield on Tuesday evening is at 7pm.