IT has not been the best of months in front of goal for top scorer Mark Stallard.

But it has not been the best for Mansfield as a whole either.

Early in the campaign, Stallard and the Stags were banging in goals for fun and creating chances in almost every match.

In his first eight starts, the former Notts County hitman bagged six goals to put him among the Blue Square Premier's top scorers.

But since then, eight more matches have yielded just a solitary strike, in the 3-2 victory over Sailsbury.

That success against Nick Holmes' side at the Raymond McEnhill Stadium was also the last time that Mansfield tasted victory.

Four successive defeats have followed.

Stallard has not been helped by illness, which kept him out of the starting line-up against Burton Albion.

And even though he was in the team against Wrexham last week, he was still suffering from the effects of a heavy cold.

But Stallard, who celebrates his 34th birthday today, is not using that as an excuse and is keen to see an improvement in his performances.

He said: "The goals drying up has coincided with the team not playing well.

"I am not one of those players who goes around three opponents and puts one in the top corner. I rely on other people to give me the chances.

"I am not passing the buck because I know I could have played better myself in the last few matches.

"But if everyone drops their performance levels by a few per cent, then suddenly what is coming from the team is down 30 or 40%.

"The only thing you can do is work even harder on the training ground. Everyone is desperate to put things right.

"I have been on decent runs and bad runs, even worse than this, and the trick is to stay at a certain level.

"You shouldn't get too carried away if you are doing well and there shouldn't be doom and gloom when you go through bad times.

"At the moment we are not playing particularly well, but we are not getting turned over. We have lost a couple on debatable decisions and all of the last four by the odd goal.

"You only need to get one break and one win and the whole thing can change around. That's how the game of football works."

Stallard had a new partner in last weekend's 2-1 home reverse against Wrexham – on-loan Forest forward Emile Sinclair.

Stallard has been impressed by what he has seen, and believes Sinclair will be a handful for defences during his stay at Field Mill.

He said: "Emile certainly took his goal well. He is able to play wide on the right as well as up front.

"We will have to wait and see what his best position is, but he looks like he can provide a threat for us."

Although he has been a professional for almost 17 years, since coming through the ranks at home-town club Derby, Stallard has never tasted much success in the FA Cup.

He hopes that will change this season in what will be a new experience for him.

"This will be the first time I have played in the FA Cup during the qualifying rounds," he said.

"Usually the aim for the smaller clubs is to get to the third round, but we have to look to get to the first round proper. Hopefully we can do that at York tomorrow."