'Great belief': Nigel Clough backs his defenders after Mansfield Town's defeat to Peterborough
Nigel Clough says his defenders at Mansfield Town will ‘prove more than good enough’ over the remaining games in this 2026/27 season.
This League One season is already proving to be no walk in the park as plenty of upsets and surprise results have been dished out in the first two weeks.
Leicester City in particular have endured a humbling start, drawing to Notts County in their opener and then losing to Burton at the weekend.
As for Stags, they will be looking to move on from their frustrating away trip to Peterborough United, which ended in defeat courtesy of a stoppage time goal.
Both of Posh’s goals came after Mansfield attempted to block onrushing threat but the ball ended up at the feet of an opposition player.
The standard of Stags’ defence has been raised in conversation since pre-season but Clough is confident his backline are still more than capable of channelling the solid defensive displays they showed last season.
Mansfield finished the 2025/26 season with the third-fewest amount of goals (50) conceded in League One. Only Stevenage (46) and champions Lincoln City (41) let in fewer efforts.
“It’s a little bit of a concern but if teams were carving us open and creating lots of chances then we would be more concerned,” Clough admitted in his midweek press conference. “Peterborough are a very good, attacking side but didn’t create too much against us, and with the nature of the goals, there was a little bit of misfortune attached to both of them.
“I thought we defended better on Saturday than we have done but then we look at Doncaster. They equalised and then had one fantastic opportunity and missed it, and that is also the difference in games – what you get away with. We didn’t get away with anything on Saturday and we were punished probably unfairly.”
Towards the end of last season, Stags lost just once in their last 15 fixtures – which was a 2-1 defeat to Wigan. In that time they kept seven clean sheets.
“We’ve always been trying to pick up on the defensive side of the last 15 games of last season when we were incredibly difficult to beat. Barring the last mad game against Cardiff, we had a pretty good defensive record over the course of the season,” Clough continued.
“We have the same players, we made a big thing about not bringing defenders in. We still have great belief that our defenders, over the course of the next 44 games, will prove more than good enough.”