Nigel Clough says confidence is sky high at Mansfield Town ahead of Christmas period

Nigel Clough says his team fancy their chances against anyone at the moment, particularly at home.

Nine wins out of ten, six of those in the league, have propelled Clough’s men up the League Two table to the point where they could find themselves at least in the play-off places as 2022 commences should results go their way.

And the Stags boss says a sign of the self-belief at the club was evident when news came through that last weekend’s trip to league leaders Forest Green Rovers had been postponed.

He said: “Sometimes when you get a postponement and you’ve got a few injuries or are in a bad run it can be a bit of a relief.

"But it says a lot about our players at the moment that when we found out the game was off there was real disappointment.

"The players can’t wait for the next game and we go into the festive period with a lot of confidence and optimism around the place.”

Hartlepool United provide Mansfield’s next challenge at One Call Stadium on Boxing Day, Graeme Lee’s side sat two points and four places behind Stags in 15th place.

Lee has overseen an unbeaten run since arriving at the club at the start of December, although they too had their last game postponed – the trip to Colchester last weekend.

Clough said: “Obviously we hope the game will go ahead and we’re all doing all we can to keep a very important Boxing Day fixture.

"The new manager has come in at Hartlepool and is settling in so he’ll have had some time to work with the team, apart from those isolating, and it should be a very interesting one for us.

"At home, we’re confident and feel we could take on anybody at the moment, so with Hartlepool and Middlesbrough in the FA Cup our next two home games, they’re ones to look forward to.”

Clough added he’s pleased that the EFL have decided to continue playing matches where possible despite the ongoing problems with Covid-19.

He said: “I’m delighted we’re continuing, providing everything’s safe.

"We’ve had positive reports from Hartlepool that they should be able to play the game and we’re doing all we can to stay safe to enable us to be on the pitch for the games over Christmas.”