CITY have taken plenty of flak for their Mansfield mauling – now they must do something about it.

Graham Alexander admits the only way to answer all the criticism is a proper performance against Notts County tonight.

After back-to-back Valley Parade defeats, a third home in eight days will test the character of a side whose shot at sneaking into the play-offs is still there.

Alexander cannot wait to get back into action despite the lingering hostility among fans following Saturday’s 5-1 thrashing.

“I’m glad to be playing again but there are no gimmes,” said the City boss. “It’s not just going to happen.

“But I wouldn’t like to think about having a week now with that result hanging over our heads.

“Our training time is limited, even if we went from Saturday to Saturday, so I think another game round the corner is a perfect opportunity for us to get it out the system.

“It’s not going to be easy and we’re going to have to take a lot of criticism before the game.

“But that’s what life is and we have to take it. We can’t say anything about it because we deserve it.”

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Mansfield inflicted City’s heaviest home defeat since Lincoln put five past them in a Carabao Cup tie played behind closed doors in September 2020.

But the gap to seventh-placed Wimbledon would be cut to four points tonight if they can bounce back and beat a Notts County side with only one win in 2024.

Alexander added: I think we have to understand that we can’t keep talking about the next opportunity.

“The games are running out. If we want to be realistic, we have to grab it right now.

“Are we going to become the best team in the league by tonight? No. But we have to be good enough to win a game of football.

“If we want to be successful we have to be consistent.

“We have to have the consistent mindset, physical output and discipline and consistent behaviours. If you’re not consistent on any of those, you’re not going to get consistent results.

“We have to be a team that competes against everybody at a high level and picks up the results that we should.

“We haven’t done that. We were so far off getting a result on Saturday but there have been so many games when we’ve been the better team and haven’t won.

“Those are the ones that frustrate. They are the ones that put pressure on us in later games.”