Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough says the most important thing about the Boxing Day victory over Scunthorpe United was seeing his side get back to winning ways in Sky Bet League Two.
Goals from midfielder George Lapslie and striker Jordan Bowery, alongside a Manny Onariase own goal, contributed to the Stags’ 3-2 win at Sands Venue Stadium.
The manager says that although the performance ‘could have been better,’ he believes Saturday’s victory was a deserved one for his side.
“I thought we did deserve it on the balance of play,” said the boss. “We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times from good positions.
“It should’ve been more comfortable. When you’re 3-1 up and looking for the fourth goal and give the ball away in a bad position, [it meant] we caused our own problems today.
“We scored three goals away from home and looked a threat. I thought we should have won by more today and I was pleased.
“Of course, the performance could have been better, but it’s about the result and nothing more than that today.
“There were no clean goals today – all five were a little bit scruffy and you’re not quite sure who’s scored them. George [Lapslie] is claiming the first one.
“We got the ball into wide positions and I thought we looked a threat from our set plays today.
“When you’ve got two points from nine, we haven’t had enough wins [recently]. That’s what it was about today, getting the three points.
“We battled, were organised and had the ability to come away from home and score three goals [today]. Goals breed confidence and you have to be able to score goals.”
Nigel Clough also praised his defenders following the win, after the Stags’ back-line contributed in both boxes this afternoon.
“I thought we defended well in the last five or ten minutes,” he added. “There were a couple of set plays [to defend].
“If you look at what Marek [Stech] had to do today, it’s very little. I thought the centre-halves played well in the second-half to see out the victory.
“The defenders contributed to our goals as well. Kellan [Gordon] has got the cross in [for the Lapslie goal] and Faz Rawson has got the header that went towards Jordan’s goal as well.
“As well as defensively, they contributed in the other penalty area as well.”
The boss then outlined the schedule ahead of Tuesday night’s home match against Salford City, alongside issuing an injury update on frontman Nicky Maynard.
“To come away from home, score three goals and get three points on Boxing Day, it makes your Boxing Day, your Christmas Day, and we go again on Tuesday.
“We’ll be off Sunday, training on Monday as usual, then ready for the game on Tuesday.
“Not sure [about Maynard]. It’s unlikely, it’s probably going to be a couple of weeks. We’ll see how he’s getting on, but it’s unlikely.”
iFollow Stags subscribers can watch the boss’ interview in full by logging into mansfieldtown.net/ifollow later today.
