Injury crisis caught up with us today says Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough after home hammering by Salford City

Clough was still missing eight players though Stags came into the game in form after three wins without conceding.

Salford quickly blew that away on an afternoon in which they looked capable of double figures.

“Hopefully we've got all the rubbish out the way in one game - and we have been so good for the last five games or so,” said Clough.

“We have to move on, get over it and get on with it. If you can't deal with you shouldn't be in football as everyone is going to lose.

READ THE FULL MATCH REPORT – STAGS v SALFORD

“It's three points lost and you can lose the same in a scrappy 1-0 defeat. We start again next week. It's one bad day beaten by a very good team.

“Missing good players caught up with us today. Everyone filling in has been playing at their absolute maximum to get those results and, the minute they don't, you see what happens today. It wasn't a lack of effort, but they were sharper than us.

“Up to 4-1, I thought it was even in terms of chances. But we didn't take them - it was more concerning at the other end.”

He added: “They were better than us from the first minute to the last and I thought they played some very good stuff.

“I am not very enamoured with the goals we conceded, but they caused us problems from the first minute and the lad on the right was as quick and dangerous as anything we've seen in this league and we couldn't cope with it.

“Having been solid for a week, with three clean sheets, they looked as though they could score at will today.

“They were too quick and too sharp for us. When you're at home you want to get on the front foot and try to press. Maybe away from home we'd had sat in a bit more and made it a bit easier to deal with.

“I think they enjoyed playing on our pitch more than their own.

“They had a two goal start, though we came back into it, but the two after half-time absolutely killed us.

“At 3-1 we tried to make the substitutions but the fourth came along so quickly as we were trying to reorganise.”

Clough said that training had not been at maximum levels over fears of another injury but, after this result, he will now dial that up and take the associated risks.

“With the seven or eight missing today it would have been nice to play them with a full strength side, but we're not going to have that for a few weeks,” he said.

“We might have George Maris back next week. Riley Harbottle was ill before the game. He told me he was fit but obviously wasn't, so I should have taken that out his hands before the game.

“We can't train full-blooded as we're petrified of getting further injuries. We are now going to have to take that chance. That is how we've trained the last 18 months to two years.

“Injury-wise, everyone else is coming along as expected. No one else will be anywhere near next week so we have to get on with it. That's all we can do.”