Manager Nigel Clough commended his players’ ‘outstanding’ endeavour following Stags’ hard-fought 0-0 draw at home to Grimsby Town.
The amber and blue were held by an in-form Mariners side who had lost only once in their last six Sky Bet League Two matches.
The manager highlighted the positives from a highly-competitive encounter at One Call Stadium.
“[It was] a good clean sheet first and foremost,” he told iFollow Stags after the match.
“I thought Grimsby started very brightly. [They] caused us problems from a lot of set plays. We hung on in there.
“Christy [Pym] made a couple of saves. [There was] one he tipped over the bar. That’s what he’s there for, he’s in good form. [He] kept us in it.
“I thought then we settled down and had situations [to score] ourselves, that we didn’t make the most of again. [We were] a little bit rushed and a little bit anxious in the final third.
“The effort tonight, no problem at all with that. Absolutely outstanding.”
The gaffer felt his side could have made more of their chances to score a go-ahead goal.
“I thought from [Boateng’s 55th minute] free-kick, I thought it was so unlucky that it hit their man and it just trickled wide,” he said.
“I thought Lucas Akins was unlucky [when] he held one in the six-yard box and turned. I thought [it was unfortunate] in the first-half [when] Davis Keillor-Dunn just whipped one across the face of goal, that’s where Rhys Oates should be.
“We talk about the game at Stockport on Saturday which was defined by those two moments of quality [which had] two great crosses, two great headers and you end up with two goals. Nobody managed to provide that tonight.
“You need a break and we didn’t get one in the six-yard box. They didn’t either, which is why you get 0-0, but I thought it was an entertaining 0-0.”
Mansfield face an important clash with eighth-placed Sutton United at One Call Stadium on Saturday. Nigel hopes to see a similar high-effort performance from his players.
He said: “[Against Sutton on Saturday] I want to see exactly the same effort that we had tonight, and then a little bit more composure in the final third. Then for somebody to finish one off, then we’ll win a game. But we’ve got to keep it solid at the back.
“We can’t give anything away [against Sutton]. You don’t want to give them a one-goal lead because then they’re very difficult to break down.
“[It was] a good point [tonight]. We move on.”
