Nigel Clough hails experience levels of Mansfield Town duo after hard-fought point against Barnsley
Nigel Clough praised the ‘experienced’ Lucas Akins and Stephen McLaughlin after the duo’s goals were enough to nick a point against Barnsley in their League One clash.
Mansfield Town came back from 2-0 down to snatch a draw against the Tykes on Saturday as two of their more experienced players came up clutch. Thanks to a penalty from Akins and a McLaughlin equaliser in stoppage time, Stags’ second half efforts were enough to snatch a draw and add another valuable point to their steadily growing tally.
Clough praised the experience of the two veteran players after the match. The manager made three changes from the side that beat Reading midweek, with Jon Russell ineligible to face his parent club, Kyle Knoyle returning to the fold, and Rhys Oates replacing Will Evans up front.
A 37-year-old Akins and 35-year-old McLaughlin were the difference for Stags on Saturday to secure a valuable point.
“It shows the value of the experience at this level. We’ve got youngsters on the bench with Oliver Irow and Joe Gardner but sometimes it might be a bit too much for them, and it was that sort of game where you needed that experience out there,” Clough reflected.
Barnsley defender ‘lucky’ not to see red
Clough believes Barnsley were fortunate to see out their visit to the One Call Stadium with 11 players still on the pitch after incidents involving Maël de Gevigney.
The visitors escaped going a man down after De Gevigney committed what appeared to be a second yellow card offence in the second half. The Barnsley defender played the majority of the match with a mark against his name after being booked in the early minutes for a foul on Oates. The Frenchman committed another late challenge on Stags’ No.18 not long after the break but the referee opted for a free-kick and no further card for De Gevigney.
Had the centre-back been given his marching orders, the result may have been very different, which Clough acknowledged at full-time.
“We were a bit frustrated that the lad didn’t get a second yellow card after being booked. I thought it was a worse challenge than the one he booked him for and we don’t want to see players sent off at all, we just want to see it right, whatever the decision is. I thought he was a bit lucky to stay on the pitch.”
There were a number of calls throughout the match from both sides but one that did stick was a penalty to Stags after Nathan Moriah-Welsh’s immediate impact off the bench resulted in him earning the spot-kick for Akins to convert.
“He nicked it away from the lad and then got caught. No question it was a penalty though, and they didn’t even object to it. But I thought he did well when he came on, he looked bright and he looked lively,” Clough said of Moriah-Welsh, who made his first League One appearance since Lincoln City last month.
“This was one today where it’s caught up with us the last week or so. We were toying with putting fresh legs out there but because we played so well in the league on Tuesday, we didn’t really want to tinker too much and maybe with hindsight, we should have done. We’ve got Nathan, Joe, Jordan [Bowery], Oliver… it could have been a fresh legs day but we nicked a point.”