Departing manager Steve Evans is backing his old side to get promotion with the squad he's assembled and spoke of plans to celebrate with the chairman he's just left when it happens.

Evans and assistant Paul Raynor resigned as Mansfield Town manager and assistant last week, only to be appointed at Peterborough United 24 hours later. Evans previously left Crawley at a late stage in the season to take over at Rotherham, with the Red Devils ultimately promoted after he left.

Speaking to the printed Football League Paper, Evans backed new manager David Flitcroft to succeed; "When I left Crawley, I said to them, ‘You’ll get promoted because the squad is easily good enough’. John Radford called me on Friday and I said the same thing. There’s a bit more work to be done than at Crawley, but David Flitcroft is a great choice. He actually rang this week and spoke in glowing terms about how great the squad is. He’s an experienced manager who’s been great at the level before and he himself has left a great squad behind at Swindon. Flicker will get them promoted, for sure."

Mansfield are firmly entrenched in the League Two promotion battle and Flitcroft is in the envious position of leaving one promotion-chasing side for another. His Swindon Town team are also in the play-off hunt, albeit a handful of points behind his new side.

As for Steve Evans, he's taken over at Peterborough and he said although he can understand Stags fans' frustrations, they must see things from his point of view.

“Anyone who loses a girlfriend that they deeply love will be upset,” he said. “I understand that. But when you look at the situation objectively, I took over a team that was goal difference away from being in the League Two relegation zone. The chairman’s remit was to build a squad good enough for promotion, with the first season if possible. That’s exactly what we’ve done."

Flitcroft starts his Mansfield Town journey tomorrow night with a home match against local rivals Lincoln City.

The Verdict

Whilst Steve Evans is a large personality, there's surely no positive way to spin his departure from Mansfield, who have been fortunate to recruit quickly and decisively. In the long term, this could be of benefit for the Stags as Flitcroft is very much and up and coming manager who it is believed could have a great future in the game. The squad is strong too, Evans has spent big and spent wisely.