Manager Nigel Clough described tonight’s performance as ‘outstanding’ as Mansfield romped into the second round of the Carabao Cup with a 2-0 win at home to Grimsby.
Strikers Lucas Akins and Rhys Oates were on target in either half during a dominant display from the Stags.
And speaking after the game, the manager said: “I thought we were outstanding from the first whistle to the last.
“Even the last few minutes of added time we kept the ball and restricted Grimsby to very few efforts. Christy Pym was largely a spectator and at the other end we created numerous chances.
“That’s the only thing at the moment that we’re not taking a bigger proportion of our chances because our play deserves more goals.
“I thought some of the football tonight was from a higher level.
“It should have been the same on Saturday [against Crewe] but we got a clean sheet tonight. And like Saturday we should have scored more goals tonight.
“Some of our play from start to finish was excellent.
“You get to that point where you think you should be two or three up and get to half time only 1-0 up. But we are going to have to deal with situations like that when we miss a few chances. We did tonight very calmly.
“We just want to put a few more away.”
The manager saw much promise in his side’s performance which yielded 17 shots at goal.
“You look at the pattern and foundation of what we're trying to do, it was there again tonight.
“There were five or six excellent moves tonight and it’s been lovely to watch. The crowd enjoyed it and appreciated it. They’d like a few more goals as we all would but hopefully that will come. It was a composed performance and we were in control from start to finish.”
Looking ahead to the visit of Morecambe on Saturday in Sky Bet League Two, he added: “We want to take tonight’s performance into Saturday, but it will be a different occasion. The crowd will be three times as big as tonight. When points are at stake, as opposed to cup games, it’s always different.”
