We spoke to Rushden & Diamonds Assistant Manager Michael Stone ahead of Saturday's visit to Mansfield, about how the disappointment of Tuesday against Oxford shows how far we have come this season.

Michael, how long does it take to get over the disappointment of a result that you don't think should have happened?

Quite a while to be fair. Usually I spent the day after studying the video footage as a team so we can look back at the game as a whole and when we see some of the decisions made through the course of the match, not just that pivotal decision in the match but the decision with Lee Tomlin through on goal and several free kicks, so it was a night where not a lot went for us. It's difficult enough playing away to Oxford United but it was difficult to take, three or four minutes away from gaining what would have been a well earned point. Saying that there had to be a point where we draw a line under it, we came in this morning (Thursday) and the players were bright today, one or two knocks and bruises and now we're thinking ahead to Mansfield.

Speaking in general terms, some people say that only sides who are really aiming for the top of the division would be disappointed by taking 3 points from 2 games against Stevenage and Oxford. 

It does say a lot about how far we've come as a group to be coming away so disappointed on Tuesday night, so it does say a lot about the staff, players and the supporters cause I'm sure they would have been disappointed so that does shows how far we've come over the course of the season. If we're measuring ourselves against those two teams, over the course of those two matches, there wasn't a gap of any kind really, we competed well in both matches, we could well have been sitting here and looking at four points from the two games and not looking at three but if those are the top two teams in the division, we can't be doing badly if we're not far off.