Boss Nigel Clough has praised the Stags for ‘going right until the death,’ as his side booked their place in the Emirates FA Cup Third Round by way of a 122nd minute Nicky Maynard winner.
Dagenham & Redbridge were the visitors to One Call Stadium, and took the lead on 19 minutes through Paul McCallum.
Mansfield equalised moments later via a well-taken Harry Charsley goal, and had to wait almost 100 minutes for their eventual winning effort.
The manager says he hopes Sunday’s dramatic win generates confidence amongst the Stags’ ranks.
“I thought we deserved it [win],” he told iFollow Stags. “The fact that it’s the 120th minute is largely irrelevant because I thought our general play from the second-half onwards was good.
“We created enough chances to win two or three games today. The fact that we didn’t score until the 120th minute, that’s the frustrating thing.
“We just need one of the strikers to start putting them away, and Nicky Maynard probably remains the most composed finisher we’ve got with his experience.
“People think that was an easy chance at the end, but when it’s bobbling and it’s spinning, and it’s the last kick of the game, then it’s a difficult finish.
“It doesn’t matter how you win sometimes, it’s just wonderful to win the match.
“We’d had so many opportunities, and that’s why we brought Aidan Stone on as we think it’s going to penalties. The reason we swapped Aidan for Marek [Stech] is because he’s a better penalty saver.
“We played with a purpose to create chances and we did that all throughout the game today.
“It’s important that the lads kept going right until the death, whether you’re drawing or winning, just keep going right until the death.
“I hope, confidence-wise, that will do us good. We’ve had a couple of wins in the last few games and when you’ve not won for six to eight months, every win is a big one.”
On today’s opposition, the manager added: “We knew exactly what Dagenham were going to do and we know from our experience how tough the Conference is.
“They had a great chance on 90 minutes where their lad [Luke Croll] headed one over. I thought they were a very good outfit.”
The boss also says he wants one of the big teams in Round Three, as Premier League and Championship outfits are added to the mix in Monday night’s cup draw.
“I haven’t thought about that [who we want in the next round]. We don’t mind. You always want somebody to make money, so one of the big boys away, or you want one of the big boys down here.
“But with no fans or crowds coming in, it changes perspective a little bit.
“It’s just nice to get through and to win another game. We want to use it now as a spur and an incentive to push on in the league.”
There was also an injury update on defender James Perch, who was absent today, and winger Stephen McLaughlin, who went off injured in the second-half of this afternoon’s contest.
“[Perch has a] strained hamstring. He managed to complete the 90 minutes against Harrogate but was pretty sore afterwards.
“He got through that game, but we’ll just have to see how he is day-to-day.
“Stephen [McLaughlin] got a nasty whack on his ankle right in front of us in the technical area. It doesn’t look too good, so hopefully there’s no damage.
“It’s pretty sore for him to walk on at the moment so once again, we’ll see how he is towards Wednesday.”
iFollow Stags subscribers can watch Nigel Clough’s interview in full by logging into mansfieldtown.net/ifollow later today.
