'I think we are in a better place' - Nigel Clough gives his verdict on four years in charge of Mansfield Town

The experienced Stags boss, who celebrated four years in charge of November 6, is eager to see the strong foundations built upon as he looks to capture one more landmark promotion.

And while it may seem a tall order for Stags to upset the League One big boys, Clough knows only too well what it takes to guide an unfancied club out of the league having done so with Burton Albion in the 2015/16 season.

“The job has gone in stages in terms of getting up. We probably took a season too long to get up,” added Clough.

“There are circumstances behind that but now we are up we need to go and consolidate ourselves and try and establish ourselves as a good League One club.

“You build from there and then you have a chance of threatening the top six for promotion.

“We are not miracle workers and it will take time. You have the foundations in place then so when someone else comes in they have a good basis to take the club forward.

“We (Clough and assistant manager Andy Garner) won’t be here in ten years time. You want to leave the club in a better position than when you arrived.”

“We enjoy our time here and you enjoy it more when you know there is not long left.”

And for Clough, who has also managed Burton Albion, Sheffield United and Derby County during his 26 year managerial career, last season’s promotion-clinching win over Accrington will always be a special moment.

“It made up for the disappointment at Wembley,” he added. “That was gut-wrenching with how it went. We were so looking forward to the day and then we were 2-0 and a man down inside 35 minutes and it’s game over.

“It wrecked ten months of work, never mind the season before that, nearly two years of work was down the pan in 35 minutes.

“I don’t think anyone wanted to come back for pre-season the following season. When we won against MK Dons and cemented it against Accrington it made up for an awful lot of hurt that had gone on the season before.”

Stags occupied a lowly 22nd spot in League Two when Clough first took charge of the club, with his first win coming at Forest Green Rovers just days later.

And while Stags are clearly in a better league position now, Clough believes the progress at Stags goes far beyond that.

“I hope we have made progress. We have in terms of the league position but I think you have to look beneath that and the progress of the whole club. The academy and U21s have progressed as well, so I think we are in a better place than four years ago.

“You always try to improve the club and that is the measure. The feedback from the crowd and the crowds we are getting at games, everyone seems to be enjoying it.

“We had to survive with the position we were in and then we could take it from there and improve.

“We had to concentrate solely on results early on. We tried to put smiles on faces, people were rightly down and we needed a result or two. A football club is not a good place to be when you are losing games.

“Right from the first minute of last season we set our stall out and made our intentions clear. “It is great to see the smiles on the faces of supporters. The club has had a lot of ups and downs over the last 20 years and it is really nice to see people enjoying coming to games, that is really important.”