Dynamic midfielder Alex MacDonald said he was left with an overwhelming feeling of ‘frustration’ this afternoon as Stags were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Coventry City.
Stags took the lead in the 16th minute as MacDonald’s free-kick from the edge of the box struck striker Kane Hemmings and wrong-footed Coventry ‘keeper Lee Burge. This came after the visitors were reduced to ten men following Jordan Willis’ foul on striker Danny Rose after the Stags top scorer had gone through one-on-one.
The hard-working MacDonald was then alleged to have brought down Coventry striker Jonson Clarke-Harris in the box and the Sky Blues’ forward then stepped up to dispatch the spot kick and level the match.
Despite the set-back, Mansfield continued to play the better football but were unable to find the winner which much of their play had deserved, according to MacDonald.
“For large parts of the game, we dominated. We didn’t quite put the game to bed as we should’ve done. We’re in there very, very disappointed that we’ve not got the three points today,” the former Burnley man said.
“At times, we played some really nice stuff but it’s all well and good playing that ‘nicey nicey’ stuff from box to box but in both boxes we’ve really got to take our chances and keep them out at the other end. We just didn’t really take our chances today.
“When you’re playing against an opposition team like Coventry, they’re a very good team and the way they set up, and the way they play, they’re dangerous at all times.
"We didn’t quite put the game to bed as we should’ve done. We’re in there very, very disappointed that we’ve not got the three points today."
“When they go down to ten men in the first half, you’re thinking we really need to start turning this dominance into some more goals and get a more comfortable lead.
“That was the most frustrating thing today, that we had a lot of dominance. We had a lot of the ball, we were in the final third a lot but we just couldn’t turn that into goals.”
The former Oxford United man felt that he was harshly penalised for the collision which resulted in the Sky Blues being awarded a spot kick, but insisted that wasn’t the only reason why Stags didn’t emerge victorious.
“The penalty decision, for me, in my opinion, wasn’t a penalty.
“I’m not going to come out here and say to you that’s the whole reason why we dropped points today.
“We should’ve been a bit more clinical in the final third and we didn’t do that today."
Supporters can view Alex MacDonald’s post-match interview on iFollow Stags.
