STEVENAGE loan signing Gavin Mahon has called on the team to be more ruthless in their bid to end a run of five straight defeats, writes Sam Glanz.

Mahon, who has made more than 500 appearances in his career, has completed the full 90 minutes of both games since Gary Smith brought him in from Notts County last week.

“I think we need to be more ruthless in both boxes, defensively as well as going forward,” said the 36-year-old.

“We need to start creating chances for our front men, and the danger-men – our wide players and creative players – and then get a bit of consistency and I think we’ll be fine.”

With a spell of six games in 17 days coming up, the ex-Watford ace believes the dense fixture list is a positive for the players.

“You can see we need a result, the lads are a bit low but at the end of the day as a footballer you want to get back and play straight away and thankfully we’ve got games coming up, so hopefully we can get over the bad run and start picking up some points which is what we need,” he said.

Speaking to the Comet about the signing of Mahon, manager Smith said the midfielder’s experience was a key factor in bringing him in.

“I know Gavin from my time at Watford, which seems like a lifetime ago, but Gav has played a lot of league games, he’s been at a lot of league clubs and his experience is the real reason that Gavin is here.

“He’s seen and done an awful lot. There are one or two guys that could do with leaning on him a bit, and he’s fitted in just great, he’s a good guy as well.

“He’s a very, very good professional, he looks after himself and at 36-years-of-age you need to be or your career finishes very quickly.”

Mahon cited the chance for more game time as the main reason for his move to the Lamex, but after being deprived of minutes at Notts County the midfielder said he was yet to reach peak fitness.

“I wouldn’t say I’m fully match fit,” he said.

“I’ve played two 90 minutes back to back recently, I think the last time I played was against Stevenage in the league and I hadn’t played too much before that, but I like to keep myself fit so it’s not been a problem.”

Stevenage face relegation-threatened Colchester United at the Lamex on Saturday afternoon and Mahon is expecting a tight contest.

“It’s going to be another tough game.

“They’re a team that’s up and down and they’re a team that we need to get a result against, especially at home.

“It’s a good time to have a couple of home games coming up so hopefully we can pick up some points.”