Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough says he was pleased to see his men continue their early-season form as Stags cruised to a 3-0 win at home to Morecambe.
The amber and blue gained a point at Crewe last week, along with a 2-0 victory at home to Grimsby in the Carabao Cup, and followed it with another fine display in the first home league game of the campaign today.
Forward Lucas Akins netted twice, with Davis Keillor-Dunn also scoring, to see Stags record their first league victory of the season.
And the boss was left wholly satisfied with his side’s efforts, telling iFollow Stags: “To score three goals in the first league game at home and keep a clean sheet [is impressive].
“We should have been ahead before the 45th minute, with the amount of chances we created again. We have to put a couple more of them away earlier on in the game.
“We played well and kept the ball well. This groove that we’ve been in for the past few weeks… including the Hearts [pre-season] when we went up there and played incredibly well. And then you saw it in the past few weeks, we’ve played at a very high and consistent standard.”
Stags dominated the game from start to end and had Morecambe camped inside their own half for long periods.
“We have options and people running forward,” said the manager.
“We just have to be careful at the back a little bit, not to be too gung-ho, there’s no need to be the way we’re dominating games, so we have to be careful not to get caught on the break.
“You do have to patient and keep moving the ball. We used the word ‘probe’ and you have to be probing all the time. I thought Louis Reed did that well today. It might not always come off in the first or second pass but you just have to keep moving them around.”
With Akins and Keillor-Dunn now notching three goals apiece so far this term, the manager said: “He's [Akins] got three in three games now, as has Davis. It's good to see the frontmen scoring.
“I thought one of the highlights was when Rhys Oates sprinted back again to intercept one of their attacks during the first half. He did it the other night in the cup against Grimsby and he did that again today. That’s as invaluable as any of his forward work for us.”
Stags recorded 27 shots at goal today, underlining the dominance of the display.
“We had nearly 40 in the first two games combined,” said Nigel.
“It’s a lot of shots and sets a marker of how we’re trying to play. We might not always be able to achieve that but it’s how we’re trying to play.
“You’re looking for a platform and pattern in the next nine months and the players are in a little groove at the moment. It can be disrupted at any time, but despite having a few players missing today from the squad, they kept the form going.”
