Mansfield Town manager Nigel Clough says Stags’ superb defensive record at home in the league is the ‘basis of what we’re trying to build’ ahead of tomorrow evening’s clash against Tranmere Rovers at One Call Stadium.
Mansfield have conceded just three times on home soil in the league this campaign – the best in the division.
Despite a first league defeat of the season taking place at Swindon on Saturday, the boss is confident Stags can fire themselves back to winning ways in front of the amber and blue supporters.
Speaking to iFollow Stags in a news conference today, Nigel said: “It’s [the defensive home record] the basis of what we’re trying to build.
“There are not many games where we don’t, first of all score and certainly create a number of chances.
“We’ve got to make it count at home.”
The gaffer’s side will head into a ten-day period without a fixture, following tomorrow’s contest.
“You want to go into it [the break] with a win. Certainly, you don’t want back-to-back defeats,” he said.
“The other results on Saturday made it more frustrating as well with Notts losing and Stockport losing.
“If we’d got just a point on the board, we would have gained on them.”
Nigel provided the latest on the injury front.
“He [Will Swan] got this groin problem that got worse towards half-time [at Burton last Tuesday]. He’s not in a position to play 90 minutes.
“James Gale is the more serious one. He was going to play 90 minutes [at Burton] but came off with 20 minutes to go.
“His knee buckled a little bit and he’s going to be out for six-to-eight weeks.
“Ollie Clarke is back doing a little bit of training, so we’ll see how he is for tomorrow night.
“Stephen McLaughlin is going to do a bit of training this week but won’t be available before the break. We’re hoping [he’ll return] for MK Dons, depending on how he comes through the training sessions.”
On Tuesday night’s opposition, the boss added: “They’ve won their last two at home scoring three in each, so they’ll be as confident as at any time this season.
“They changed their manager a few weeks ago and have an experienced manager.
“They’ll be a handful and difficult to beat.”
