Mansfield Town manager Nigel Clough has called for his side to ‘get back on the front foot’ this Saturday as his men aim to extend their unbeaten start to the season at home to Barrow.
Stags were below par last weekend but still managed to salvage a point in a tough encounter at Colchester.
The amber and blue remain the only team in the EFL yet to taste defeat and are ten unbeaten in league and cup.
Barrow visit One Call Stadium following a strong start of their own, losing just once in Sky Bet League Two.
In a news conference at RH Academy today, the boss said: “[Barrow’s start has been] Similar to last year, not a surprise really.
“They’re one of those teams [hard to break down]; there’s a few in the league that you don’t want to go behind [against] and we saw that against Colchester.
“It’ll be difficult to create. If we have to be patient, then we have to be patient but [we must] learn the lesson from last week.
“Let’s get back on the front foot and playing as we were a few weeks ago.”
Davis Keillor-Dunn scored late on at Essex to rescue a point for Mansfield.
“[It was] Probably our poorest performance of the season in certain ways,” Nigel said.
“We controlled the game at times away from home, which was very good, but we found it difficult to break Colchester down.
“When you’re in control as we were in the first-half, you can’t concede that first goal. It makes it so much more difficult.
“Sometimes you’re creating chance after chance and you think a goal is going to come, that wasn’t the case, so I think to get a point in those circumstances speaks a lot for our resilience and [our] different ways of getting a goal.
“The last few goals have been absolutely brilliant team goals and individual goals. This [on Saturday] is just a diagonal ball into the box, headed down and a brilliant finish by Davis.
“That’s what you have to do. You have to do certain different things at different times in games.”
The equaliser was Keillor-Dunn’s seventh of the campaign.
“He probably could’ve had a couple more as well when you look at the chances but the quality of his finishing – and he’s made a few as well – has been excellent,” said the gaffer.
“The position, playing up front off two strikers, gives him a licence [to roam].
“When you do play the two up there – and him as well then you might be a little bit more vulnerable [defensively] but you certainly create chances which we have done.”
Defender John-Joe O’Toole, who looked close to a return to full fitness in recent weeks, picked up a knock in the Central League Cup win against Notts County last Wednesday.
“He’s [going to be out] a few days, maybe a week.
“It’s not too bad but it’s stiffened up quite a bit after the tackle [in the Central League Cup] so he couldn’t be involved on Saturday.
“George Maris is the other one [not too far away]. It might be a bit too soon [for him to feature] on Saturday, we’ll see.”
