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Oli Hawkins has explained the relief he felt when his late header found the net to give Mansfield Town all three points at Crewe on Saturday.

Hawkins, who had been pushed up front in the latter stages to help his side find a winner, produced just that with his goal in the third minute of stoppage time from Kieran Wallace’s cross. Report HERE.

And he says he was delighted for the team and the travelling fans.

He said: "It was just relief. I had one in the first-half that didn’t go in as it was a really good save and I struggled a bit from set pieces given the way Crewe mark and how they grappled.

Mansfield Town defender Oli Hawkins heads clear during the win at Crewe. Photo: Chris Holloway/The Bigger Picture.media.

"As soon as I saw Kieran Wallace was lining [a cross] up I got myself in a good position knowing the ball was coming to me and I’d get a head on it, it was just a case of getting enough on it to rattle the back of the net, and I did.

"I wish I’d run to the away end to be honest but given where I was I ran the other way, but I’m glad to get the winner at the end and happy that the fans celebrated as there was a lot of them here today which is brilliant and it was a really good feeling.

"Everyone could see we weren’t 100 per cent at it today, whereas at Gillingham from start to finish I thought we were brilliant. We stayed in the game in the first-half when we weren’t at our best and even at 1-0 down we felt positive we could win or get a draw and we did.

"I did think over the 90 minutes we deserved to win it. I was disappointed we conceded the goal we did, especially as I was playing in defence at the time as I felt it was out of nothing as they’d not had loads of chances or possession, but in the last few away games our performances have been brilliant and we knew if we could get one back, we could get two.”

Mansfield match-winner Hawkins relieved to see late goal get three points