Manager Nigel Clough says his side’s ‘effort and desire’ were the foundations of this afternoon’s heroic victory over Notts County in the Nottinghamshire Derby.
Depleted Stags produced a valiant display to do the double over their local rivals as Davis Keillor-Dunn’s eighth-minute strike proved the difference in front of a sell-out crowd at One Call Stadium.
Stags were given a standing ovation at full-time and the manager told iFollow Stags: “[It was an] Incredible result. The performance was enough to win the game. I thought the effort and the desire got us the result today.
“We got an early goal and we fought tooth and nail to hang on to it against a very good side, with the attacking options they have and the amount of goals they’ve scored - to keep a clean sheet against them today is absolutely outstanding.
“I think we can play a bit better but we can’t work any harder.
“I’m sure our supporters over the years have seen [teams] give tonnes of effort for this club but they wont have seen much more than they did today.
“All over the pitch we competed superbly.
That’s what you need to get the result in the circumstances today.”
Stags restricted Notts to only one shot on goal and could have added to their goal tally, especially in the second-half when they pressed their foot on the gas.
“I thought we had enough situations; we were much better in dealing with them and were more of a threat,” said the manager.
“We were a little bit more on the front foot, which we should be at home, winning the ball higher up the pitch and creating chances from that.”
The win sees Mansfield move up to second place and Nigel said: “It gives us all a big lift. We’ve had a difficult January after the magnificent victory at Stockport.
“It’s no coincidence that the two games we’ve won are the two matches in which we’ve kept clean sheets. We didn’t give anything away today.
“Notts had to work very hard for their situations and that was the key to victory. If we defend properly and play properly we’re a difficult team to play against.“
