Mansfield Town manager Nigel Clough frustrated as side pegged back at Crewe Alexandra after sending off

Two goals in five minutes from Davis Keillor-Dunn had put the Stags in control inside 30 minutes at the Mornflake Stadium, before Mickey Demetriou pulled one back before the break.

However, after Calum MacDonald was dismissed for clattering into Chris Long near to the halfway line just before the hour mark, the hosts quickly levelled through Rio Adebisi.

Afterwards, Clough told BBC Radio Nottingham: “The only thing missing was the three points for us, which we deserved over the course of the game.

“Having gone down to 10 men and conceding straight away, and then playing 35 minutes with 10 men, I thought we were very, very good overall.”

He bemoaned poor finishing – “we could have scored two in the first five minutes” – but said the game hinged on two or three key turning points.

Clough said: “There’s always turning points in games, the sending off was obviously one. Keillor-Dunn has scored two magnificent goals, but his chance to make it three, he should possibly have played in Lucas Akins, was a turning point and then in the 80th minute, somehow Lucas has contrived to hit Rhys Oates on the line when the ball was going in. Two or three turning points didn’t go our way.

“We hit the inside of the post, another good move, should score, then we’re down to 10 men and it’s 2-2 in the blink of an eye, but I thought after that we dealt with it very well.

“I didn’t think we had to defend that much. After the second goal, I don’t think Christy Pym’s had a shot and if anybody’s going to score, it’s going to be us.

“Once we put the five across with Aden Flint in the middle, any balls in the box he dealt with and I thought going forward we were a threat as well. so I was very, very pleased with the shape once we went down to 10 men.

“I thought we were positive from the first minute to the last, we were trying to win the game. On another day we’d could have scored easily four or five goals.

“I thought we should have won the game today. but those two or three little things just went against us.”