Jordan Tillson says the competition for places in the Exeter City squad is strong despite the club suffering a number of injuries during the past month.
The main area of concern seems to be central defence where both Luke Croll and Troy Brown are still out and both Troy Archibald-Henville and Jordan Moore-Taylor have spent spells on the sidelines.
However, 20-year-old Jordan Storey made his full debut for the club recently and performed well against both league leaders Luton Town and in-form Wycombe Wanderers.
“That just shows the level of players that we have got here that those players can just come in and do as well as they have done,” he said. “Matty Taylor (Exeter City’s under-23s coach) has done a really good job working with him and it just shows that Jordan has done well to play in the under-23s and get himself ready.
“It is good (to have this competition for places), because you want to come in and do well and to try and keep your place and that puts pressure on everyone else.”
Speaking about the challenge of taking on Mansfield, Tilly added: “It is going to be hard game. They are coming to St James Park off the back of a good result on Tuesday night and it is going to be a game that means a lot because they are pushing for promotion just like us.”
However, City go into the match having won five and drawn one of their last six League Two games at St James Park.
“Yes, we have worked on the home form a lot and the league is so tight with the teams around us that we seem to be playing teams that are battling for the same points as us all the time,” said Tilly.
“It think, it is going to be like that right until the death. We have just got to keep going and make sure we are in there come the end of the season.”