Mansfield Town midfielder George Maris believes Mansfield Town can pull off third FA Cup shock against Championship side Middlesbrough

George Maris - aiming for cup upset on Saturday.George Maris - aiming for cup upset on Saturday.
George Maris - aiming for cup upset on Saturday.
Mansfield Town midfielder George Maris believes that Mansfield Town can take Saturday's FA Cup third round tie to Championship Middlesbrough and aim for a third shock in a row.

Stags have already disposed of League One clubs Sunderland and Doncaster Rovers and now have Chris Wilder's in-form Boro in their giantkilling sights.

“We are underdogs, but we can't go into it with that mindset,” he said.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“We have to go into it like we did against Sunderland and Doncaster and hopefully produce another shock and see what happens.

“Against Sunderland and Doncaster we always felt like we could win and I feel like it's the same again.

“I don't think we were ever out-played in those games. We went there and deserved to win.

“We were holding on a bit at Sunderland, but we were good and more than a match for both those sides.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Obviously this is a step up this time and it's a Championship club who are going well. We know it will be harder than the previous two games.

“But we're at home so hopefully that can count for something and we can get the fans behind us.

“It's been unbelievable all season – the crowd have been behind us regardless of the results and they have always been supportive of us. “They have been loud and, to be fair, that's probably why our home form has been as good as it is at the minute.”

Stags have won 10 of their last 11 games and Maris said: “On the back of our results it is a good time to play them and we have shown we can cause an upset.

“Hopefully we can play our stuff and see what we can do.