Manager Nigel Clough has provided his post-match assessment of today’s 0-0 draw against Oldham Athletic.
Stags added to their ever-growing list of absentees in the game, with George Maris and Oli Hawkins both being substituted due to injury.
Despite creating chances in the second-half, Mansfield were forced to settle for a draw. The boss says that the result is ‘a point in adverse circumstances.’
“I thought the last 15 minutes of the first-half, we were very poor and they got on top. [Nathan] Bishop made a couple of great saves,” he told iFollow Stags.
“Half-time came at a good time for us to get in and reorganise. We really had to give a rallying call for the second-half.
“I thought in the second-half we reorganised, went to 4-4-2, and I thought we were very good. Bish hasn’t had a save in the second-half, and I thought we created more than enough chances to get a goal.
“We’re snatching at them [chances], which is a product of not scoring too many goals and not winning games.
“That’s our second clean sheet this season, and it’s a good one. It’s certainly a better feeling than last week, losing 1-0. It’s a point in adverse circumstances.”
When asked how the Stags can produce results despite their current injury woes, the manager replied: “Just do what we did in the second-half today. Try to play a bit, fight, scrap, and try to get anything we can on the board.
“It’s difficult when you have a whole outfield missing – and we’re talking about influential players in our team – we just have to fight.
“The crowd are with us and were fantastic again today. I think if we had finished one of those chances second-half, the roof would’ve come off.
“I’ve never known double figures be out in terms of outfield players. I don’t think we’ve ever had that many [as coaching staff].
“Three out of the last four [league games] are draws. We’re still trying to build that platform and rebuild our confidence, which will come when we can nick a 1-0 somewhere.”
The boss also provided updates on George Maris and Oli Hawkins, who were both forced off with injury.
The match saw 14 added minutes at the end of the first-half, due to the treatment required by Maris after a ‘whack in the side of his head and neck area,’ but the boss says the midfielder is ‘up, talking and okay.’
“He’s [Maris] sitting up in the treatment room. He got a very nasty whack in the side of his head and neck area, which is why all of the precautions [took place].
“The time [it takes] doesn’t matter in those situations, you don’t take any risk with the player. But he’s up, talking and okay. I don’t think he was actually knocked out but he did get a big whack on the side of the head.
“We don’t know [how long he’s out for]. We’ll just see how it settles in the next few days.
“[Hawkins has] a groin injury. He felt his groin in the first-half, so it [substitution] was certainly down to injury as well. I think that makes it double figures [for injuries and suspensions].
“It [groin] hasn’t actually gone, it was just very sore. There is a slight strain in there, so even in these circumstances, we can’t afford to lose him for four or five games.”
iFollow Stags subscribers can watch the manager’s interview in full by logging into mansfieldtown.net/ifollow later today.
