Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough urges no panic as they try to halt losing run against Northampton Town
Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough has urged his side not to panic and to keep playing their football as they try to halt a run of five defeats when Northampton Town visit on Friday night.
Stags have just lost to three bottom four sides in a row and now face a Cobblers side who brought in Kevin Nolan as their new manager in December and sit one place and five points above the relegation zone.
“There's no point in looking at league tables as we have just lost three in a row to teams in the bottom five or six.
“We seem to make more mistakes against sides lower down.
“The top sides have had to work really hard against us.
“It may be about concentration as they don't put as much sustained pressure on us.
“We are in a run at the moment where every little mistake is being punished.
“We have to be almost faultless right now to get results.
“But we mustn't panic and play on edge. We still need to play with an element of freedom.”
But Clough warned: “Northampton have just had an unbelievably good result, going 3-0 up against Huddersfield and winning 3-2.
“They are just getting to grips with their new manager, but it will be as big a test as we will have. They will throw it into our box.”
Northampton have just added Burnley striker Dara Costelloe and Nottingham Forest midfielder Ben Perry on loan for the rest of the season, having signed Terry Taylor on loan from Charlton earlier in the window.
Stags this week added forwards Jordan Rhodes and Caylan Vickers on loan to their squad.