Mansfield Town defender John-Joe O’Toole hails work rate in win at Sunderland

Mansfield Town forward Rhys Oates takes his chance. Photo credit should read: Chris Holloway / The Bigger Picture.media

Stags hit the front through Rhys Oates on five minutes before they successfully kept Sunderland out at the other end.

The former Northampton Town man started for the first time since joining the club a fortnight ago, having made a substitute appearance against Tranmere Rovers last Saturday.

The 33-year-old partnered Oli Hawkins in the heart of Mansfield’s defence to seal out Sunderland’s attacking threat.

“It was a brilliant team performance from all of the lads,” O’Toole said. “Everyone gave it their all.

“We probably would’ve preferred to have had more of the more ball. Sometimes you come to places like this and you have to withstand a bit of pressure.

“We felt quite comfortable for the majority of it and we nullified them in the areas we needed to.

“We got our noses in front and probably could have got another one. We had something to hold on to. We were a good unit today.”

The game against Sunderland was O’Toole’s first start for a club in over six months.

O’Toole said: “It’s been a hard time for myself.

“Obviously I’ve been out of contract from Burton last year and it’s been hard. It’s the first time that I’ve been in the position of looking for a new club.

“When I got the call to come down to Mansfield, I was delighted to get the opportunity to play again for Cloughy and it is a chance to progress my career a bit more.”