Stags’ boss Steve Evans says he is disappointed with the manner of the two goals which his side conceded in this evening's 2-1 Checkatrade Trophy defeat to Wycombe Wanderers.
Striker Matt Green gave Stags the lead in the first half with a well-taken penalty after Joe Jacobson had handled in the box, but second half strikes from substitutes Scott Kashket and Adebayo Akinfenwa turned the tide in favour of the visitors.
And the gaffer says individual mistakes led to the Chairboys' two goals and ultimately cost the Stags a place in the semi-finals of the competition.
“We get ourselves a goal in front but we can’t defend the way we defend for both goals,” the Stags’ chief said.
“There was mistakes in them, there was mistakes from switching off from a set play, it gets cleared and then Jake [Kean] spills one and they score and the second one’s as bad.
“They allow the thrower to get an easy throw-in to the boy in the midfield area and he puts it in to Akinfenwa and Akinfenwa holds the best players off like that.
“It’s the manner of the goals we’ve conceded tonight, it’s individual mistakes. I’ve said if you make one individual mistake you get away with it, if you make two or three, like we’ve done for both goals, then you concede.
“It’s disappointing but I think over the piece we didn’t deserve to go through.”
Both of Wycombe’s goalscorers were introduced from the bench during the second half but the manager believes the Stags were denied the chance to double their lead just after half-time when referee David Webb waved away their appeals for a second penalty.
“They want to win and they’re going to introduce people to try and keep themselves in the cup tie but they’ve not made a chance until we give them the first one and then they get their tails up a little bit.
“There’s a big decision on 52 minutes when Matt Green gets taken out in the box. It’s a penalty. It’s not guaranteed to be 2-0 but it possibly is 2-0 and perhaps [it's then] cup tie over in our favour.”
The boss says the players won’t dwell on tonight’s defeat and will be back on the training ground tomorrow morning.
“We’ve lost in a competition we wanted to do well in but believe me, we’ll be working tomorrow, we won’t be too down. We have to lift our spirits again and go again. One or two have done alright tonight and one or two have let themselves down with performances, but that happens.
“We’ve got to get the boys back in, in the morning, and get people ready and focussed for a big game here on Saturday. The real world is the League Two race and that recommences on Saturday so we need to be focussed and ready for that.”
Supporters can view manager Steve Evans’ post-match interview on Stags PlayerHD.
