Mansfield Town manager Nigel Clough has hailed his side’s ‘incredible effort’ to defeat Newport County 2-1 at Rodney Parade last night.
Stags made it eight matches without defeat courtesy of goals from Hiram Boateng and James Gale.
Speaking to iFollow Stags post-match, the gaffer said: “I thought it was a magnificent performance in everything that we needed to do.
“I thought we played [well] enough, I thought we scored two good goals, especially the second one, and [we] defended as though our lives depended on it.
“It’s an incredible effort from the players.”
Young forward James Gale netted an outstanding first league goal for the club to extend Mansfield’s lead in the 73rd minute.
“His first touch flicked it over the lad and then [he] cut inside the defender and curled it in,” Nigel said.
“That’s the one that we see in training almost every day when he’s putting it in.
“That will give him a huge shot of confidence that he can do it in the Football League.
“Don’t forget, he’s not long out of non-league from Long Eaton so he’s still making his way.
“Everybody is absolutely thrilled for him.”
Midfield maestro Hiram Boateng continued his rich vein of form with a goal and assist in south Wales.
“Three goals in four games - important goals [too].
“He was our outstanding player in pre-season and early season and got injured and had a bit of a stop-start [campaign] since then.
“If he comes good for the last ten games or so [then] brilliant.”
The manager went on to highlight the significance of Stags’ display amidst the squad’s current injury concerns.
“I think they [the supporters] appreciate exactly how much effort has gone in tonight,” he said.
“It was incredible from the players.
“The same starting eleven as Saturday, they freshened it up with four or five new faces; we couldn’t do that.”
The boss then provided further detail on the injury front.
“We’ve lost Jordan [Bowery] through injury and then Macca [Stephen McLaughlin] comes on and comes off again.
“Despite all that, we’ve got the three points, but I thought we deserved them for our pure effort alone.
“Jordan Bowery [has a] tight hamstring. This is the thing when you’re playing every single minute of every single game.
“[With] Stephen McLaughlin it’s not his ankle, that’s the good news. The bad news is it’s his knee but we’re not sure how serious [it is]. He’s in a fair bit of discomfort.
“Rhys Oates [is] maybe 50/50 for the bench [on Saturday].
“Danny Johnson had a tight hamstring.
“Louis Reed hasn’t trained but has done a little bit of ball work.
“Will Swan, I think they’ve [Forest] said maybe to come back at the start of next week - we’re going to ask the question if he can maybe come back on Friday.”
