Evans disappointed with Stags performance after '˜sucker punch' defeat at Accrington

Steve Evans was disappointed to see his side lose in the league for the first time today as a late sucker punch goal from former Stags loanee Billy Kee won it 2-1 for home side Accrington Stanley.
Accrington Stanley vs Mansfield - Mansfield Town manager Steve Evans - Pic By James WilliamsonAccrington Stanley vs Mansfield - Mansfield Town manager Steve Evans - Pic By James Williamson
Accrington Stanley vs Mansfield - Mansfield Town manager Steve Evans - Pic By James Williamson

“There was no question against effort and commitment on the team,” said manager Evans.

“They did give everything for the cause. But our quality never came out the bag today and it doesn’t matter how well you play. If you don’t get your quality out you don’t win games.

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READ THE MATCH REPORT“We didn’t deserve to lose it. We had periods of play in both halves, though I don’t think we did enough in the final third.

“Both goals from them came from set plays and that is disappointing. The winner was a bit of a sucker punch. But we didn’t play well enough today.

“We looked a yard off it in key areas. We didn’t make any effect from wide areas and didn’t do enough in a lot of areas of the pitch.

“We still dominated but goals win games.”

Lee Angol pulled Stags level in the first half and Evans said: “Lee Angol does brilliantly. He is very brave. He goes in, gets a ricochet and it falls for him and he scored.

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“Then we had a couple of great opportunities where we won free kicks, we get ourselves into great areas but we don’t put the ball in the net and you get punished.”

He added: “If we had come to Accrington and got a point everyone would have said it was a good point on the road, but we would still have been disappointed with our performance. We wouldn’t have hidden from that.

“You can see the reaction as to what it means to people to beat us. We have been named by others as favourites.

“We can’t do anything about that apart from get back on the training ground on Monday and get ready for another big game next week.”

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Evans confirmed nothing was happening at the moment on his two transfer targets with 10 days left until the window closes.

“We are still working hard. If something happens it’s a bonus. If nothing happens we go as we are,” he said.