Cox seeking new faces

Mansfield boss Paul Cox wants to get more new faces in after his injury-ravaged squad managed a 0-0 home draw with Cambridge.

Cox, with nine first team players out injured and skipper Adam Murray serving a three-game ban, was forced to put out a side containing players who should also have been in the treatment room. They competed well in a tight first half but were fortunate that the post, twice, and some good stops from keeper Sascha Studer saved them in the second half as they tired under increased Cambridge pressure. Cox said: "I thought we were down to the bare bones early in the season, but I was just glad to get 11 out there today after what has happened in training this week. I wish it had been a five-a-side game. "It's been a tough week, so credit to the players, they were tremendous. "We had a couple out there with painkilling injections to get them onto the pitch. "We were up against a team that has been bulldozing teams of late. So I thought our first half performance was excellent without really affecting their goal, though I thought we should have had a stonewall penalty. "We did look tired in the second half, but there were a lot of tired bodies out there, some who hadn't trained all week. "A lot of them were running on empty. The boys gave everything for the cause and deserve a massive pat on the back. "Now we need some help. We seem to be taking two steps forward and then three or four back in terms of getting bodies back on the pitch. "We can't keep carrying on this situation without there being a massive downturn in performances and results. "We need to look at squad size and the way we go about things." Cambridge had scored eight goals in their last two games but were denied by Mansfield and boss Richard Money was left frustrated. He said: "The first half was about putting ourselves in a position to take control of the game, which I thought we then did in the second half but just couldn't find a finish. "We hit the post twice and the keeper made a couple of good saves, but we couldn't get a goal, despite lots of good play. "To think you are going to dominate a game for 90 minutes is nonsense, but performances are good at the minute. "We look confident on the ball, we look as though we have good movement and a goal threat, and everyone is working hard to keep our shape and discipline. "We defended well and restricted Mansfield to few chances, mainly because we kept our shape and composure on the ball. "It's an old adage in football, but you need the ball to score and we tried to make sure they didn't have it." Breaking news, transfer gossip, line ups and goal alerts from your football club - delivered direct to your mobile. Sign up for Sky Sports Alerts