Stags’ boss Steve Evans dubbed this afternoon’s 1-0 defeat away to Swindon Town ‘the harshest result of the season’ after seeing his dominant side’s nine-match unbeaten run come to an end at the County Ground.
Winger Matt Taylor’s first half strike was the difference between the sides, despite Stags laying siege to the Robins’ area.
And the boss is in no doubt that his side deserved at least a point from this afternoon’s encounter, if not all three.
“I think without a doubt it’s the harshest result of the season. I think we were the better team by a long, long way and a goalkeeping error costs us going behind,” the Stags’ chief said.
“We had enough dominance, especially in the second half, to go and get something from the game but it wasn’t to be.
“I think that’s harsh on us today, given the dominance of the team. Even with the removal of ball boys late on, with ten minutes to go, it’s a trick from the 1980s but that never stopped the waves of attack.
“I think if we’d have got one with a sensible time left, we’d have won the game but well done to Flicker (Dave Flitcroft) and to Futch (Ben Futcher). They’re two good lads. This is a good club so we wish them well.”
Despite being understandably disappointed at not attaining something from this afternoon’s contest, the manager made reference to the competitive nature of Sky Bet League Two.
“You take disappointment but you take a little bit of satisfaction in the dominance we had in certain periods of the game.
“This is a good side; it’s a team that’s gone above us into the top five or six today and they might have played a game more but our job is to haul the likes of them back and others.
“We can see with the results around the league today, it’s a difficult league. It’s tough to get results but maybe in our performance in other games, have we deserved to win? Not always. We deserved a minimum of one point today, if not all three.”
Stags’ players may be discouraged this evening after slipping to only their sixth defeat of the season, but the manager insists he will quickly restore spirits on the training ground tomorrow and prepare for Tuesday’s visit of Newport County.
“I’m not like some of the other managers around the league who thinks when you get beat you should worry about picking them up. They should be down.
“We need to work hard about picking them up when we go on the training ground tomorrow but they should be down. They’re not going to be happy chappies when they get beat.
“It’s hard to take today given the second half, especially the last 20 minutes. You can see they’re hanging on but it’s gone now. We can only affect Tuesday, not today.”
Supporters can login to iFollow Stags to view the manager’s full post-match interview.
