“WE owe them one” — that’s the message from Kidderminster Harriers boss Mark Yates as he prepares to face Mansfield Town at Aggborough tonight (7.45).

Harriers slumped to a 3-0 deficit in the first-half at Field Mill back in August before rallying only to lose 4-2.

Yates describes that opening 45 minutes as the lowest point of the season and, since the defeat, Harriers have established themselves as Blue Square Premier promotion contenders.

Yet the Aggborough boss wants to see a better showing from his side than in Saturday’s 3-2 victory over cash-strapped Salisbury City.

“I know we won, but the performance wasn’t there,” Yates said.

“In the long term, if the performances aren’t there, then the bad results will soon follow.

“We can’t allow that to happen so I want a marked improvement from the players.”

While Harriers are flying high in fourth, the Stags, who were relegated from Coca-Cola League Two in May, are in danger of dropping into the relegation zone.

One of the early-season favourites for promotion, Mansfield are just two points above the bottom four.

“Maybe they have better players than their position in the league suggests, but I don’t care about that. We owe them one,” Yates said. “We worked on a few things in training yesterday following Saturday’s game to make sure that we try and get things right tonight.

“It’s good being in the position that we are while there are things for us to improve on.”

Andy Ferrell is available again tonight following a one-match ban after Dean Bennett stepped into his defensive central-midfield role at the weekend.

Skipper Mark Creighton plays his last game before suspension following a fifth booking of the season on Saturday.

Forward Chris Beardsley, back at Harriers on a one-month loan from Kettering Town and a former Mansfield player, is still awaiting a first start in his second spell.

Meanwhile, Yates has said that he is not interested in the manager’s job at Oxford United after being linked with the position over the weekend.

Darren Patterson was sacked by the Kassam Stadium outfit 10 days ago and the Harriers boss appears to have been placed on the wanted list along with Forest Green’s Jim Harvey.

“Nobody around here has linked me with the job and I’m not interested,” Yates insisted.