Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough delighted with ‘brilliant point’ at 10-man Lincoln City
Mansfield Town manager Nigel Clough felt it was a 'brilliant point' earned by his tired side in today's 1-1 draw at Lincoln City, despite the home side playing with 10 men for over an hour.
In a low quality encounter short on chances, Nathan Moriah-Welsh eventually rescued a point for Stags with nine minutes to go after Lincoln's Sonny Bradley had put the Imps ahead on 17 minutes before then being shown a straight red card 14 minutes later for bringing down George Maris as last man.
It was a fifth match in 15 days and Clough said: “That was a brilliant point and we would have taken a point before the game under any circumstances.
“It's never easy playing against this Lincoln side with 11 or 10 men.
“They thrashed us twice last year so it was very important to get this point today to finish off a great week.
“We conceded a poor goal from a free kick early on and didn't create much in the first half.
“The sending-off gave us that impetus and we controlled the second half.”
Stags did feel the after-effects of the Carabao cup exit at Everton on Wednesday and Clough said: “I thought we were a bit lethargic which, after the week we have had is understandable with a big game on Wednesday night. That translated into poor mental decisions at times.
“We made four changes at half-time as we needed to get going. But I wish we hadn't made as many when we lost Regan Hendry. We could have done with an extra one towards the end.
“That one goal lead gave them something to hang onto and fight for after the red card.
“I think to lose your first two league games and have 10 points before the end of August is a good return.”
Stags now prepare for a trip to Wycombe next weekend – a game Stags believed would be postponed for international call-ups.
Clough said: “We have had a bit of a disagreement with the EFL over it as we have had one senior call up, an U21 in Jamie McDonnell, who qualifies, and an U23 call-up with McKeal Abdullah, who doesn't feature much with the first team.
“But the EFL rules don't cover it which is strange and I would say it is an oversight in itself. We think it should have counted as one because of that, but they disagree.”
Clough had hoped to bring in a Championship forward on loan before Monday's deadline but revealed: “The striker we had lined up has fallen through because of an injury, so that one is off.
“But our biggest concern is Regan Hendry who came off with an injury today. It is a knee injury and we are not yet sure on the extent of it.
“But it would be him or someone in that position we'd be looking to replace.”
Veteran striker Lee Gregory continues to try to prove his fitness after a summer operation but is running out of time and it is not looking promising.
“Lee is still trying but he still keeps getting a little bit of swelling and discomfort with his knee, he was off it for a few days at the end of last week,” said Clough.
“We will see how he is next week. But he has had a few weeks at it now and it's not looking too promising, though I wouldn't rule him out just yet.
“It is difficult when you're 37 and your knee's not right. There are other considerations as well.
“You don't want to make it worse and have any problems later on. We have left it in Lee's hands to make a decision.”