Cox tells Stags to toughen up

Mansfield boss Paul Cox has urged his side to toughen up, saying his players are "being bullied all over the pitch".

The Stags, who finished third last term before suffering play-off heartache, lost their opening two games of the campaign, shipping eight goals in the process. They responded with a 3-2 victory at Kidderminster and backed that up with a 1-0 home win over Hyde. However, they slumped to a 4-1 reverse at Grimsby on Bank Holiday Monday, meaning they have now conceded 14 goals in five games. "I am sick of seeing teams do to us the things we did to them last year," said Cox. "We are being bullied all over the pitch. We are being beaten up all over the place and we cannot defend set-pieces either. "Whether that is to do with mind-set, personnel, we have to look at that. We have to do something about it."