‘Two points should be six,’ declared manager Graham Coughlan following this afternoon’s 2-2 draw at Leyton Orient.
The Stags had gone two ahead thanks to goals from strikers Jordan Bowery and Andy Cook, but late efforts from Danny Johnson and Ruel Sotiriou ensured the spoils were shared in the capital.
It follows a second point on the board after last week’s 0-0 draw at home to Tranmere, a game which Stags dominated.
Speaking to iFollow Stags after the game, the boss says he was left ‘fuming’ by the final result.
“I’m fuming to be honest,” he said. “You can’t get beyond the fact that it should’ve been another three points for the boys.
“We were 2-0 up and had plenty of chances to make it three, four or five. The decision making, I don’t know what goes through the minds of players at times.
“That game should’ve been dead and buried, but instead we sink, allow them time and to walk past us as if we’re not there. We gave away two terrible goals today.
“We felt too comfortable. At the end of the day, coming down here we would’ve taken a point and I thought we were good in the second-half.
“But we have two points on the board when we should have six. We chucked it away last week and we chucked it away this week.
“I’m not a lover of walking the ball in the corner – I’d like to see them go at the centre-half. We just pressed the self-destruct button, which is really hard to take.”
Despite the manager’s frustration, he was able to pick positives from the display.
“If I go through it and dissect it, we’re onto something with this group of players,” he added. “They’ve been alright this week and alright last week, but it’s just these silly mistakes and daft moments that have cost us.
“But I have every faith and every confidence in this group of players. I thought we were really good today, apart from the last ten minutes.
“Cooky [Andy Cook] did brilliant chasing and forcing an error and Jordan [Bowery] scored a great penalty.
“Then obviously Cooky was where we wanted him to slot home. Is it positive, two points from six? It’s hurting and it’s hard to put it into words.
“I am fuming, but having said that, I’ll get back on the training ground on Monday morning – I like this group, but that’s hard to say with my mindset at this moment in time.
“I’m going to do my best to stick to the positives – we have a couple of points on the board – but I have to take my hat off to the group with the work they’ve put in this last couple of months.
“We’re just short of one or two victories. We get a couple of wins under our belt, we’ll build up that courage, character and never-say-die attitude.
“We were the better team but didn’t win the game. We look okay, and that’s tough to say having been 2-0 up in the game.”
Graham Coughlan says his youthful side can learn a lesson from today’s fixture.
“We will develop, we will learn, and we will get better. We will cut out the basic, silly, sloppy errors.
“I have to put my own emotions and thought process to one side. I have to be pleased with the business we’ve done in the summer and the players we’ve brought in.
“We are fuming, but the players are hurting as well. I’ve said to the lads, we will go 2-0 down over the course of 46 games this season, but remember this – you’re never out of the game when you’re 2-0 down.
“I just hope the lads can pick it up and learn from this. I want to move on – I don’t want chins or the floor or them dwelling on it.
“We’ll have to learn from it – but my overriding message is positivity, which is really tough with my mindset at the minute.”
iFollow Stags subscribers can watch the manager’s interview in full by logging into mansfieldtown.net/ifollow.
