Nigel Clough happy to win 'scruffy', adding Mansfield Town deserved three points at Scunthorpe United

Nigel Clough was happy to claim three Boxing Day points, even if the goals were a little 'scruffy'.

The Stages left Scunthorpe United with a 3-2 victory which saw them move up to 20th in League two as they leapfrogged the Iron.

George Lapslie and Jordan Bowery were on target for Town, along with an Emmanuel Onariase own goal. For the hosts, Farrend Rawsonput the ball intop his own net and John McAtee added a late second.

“Of course, the performance could have been better, but it’s about the result and nothing more than that today," Clough said.

“There were no clean goals today – all five were a little bit scruffy and you’re not quite sure who’s scored them. George (Lapslie) is claiming the first one.

“We got the ball into wide positions and I thought we looked a threat from our set plays today.

“When you’ve got two points from nine, we haven’t had enough wins (recently). That’s what it was about today, getting the three points."

The Stags boss believed the better team won on the day.

He added: "I thought we did deserve it on the balance of play.

“We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times from good positions.

“It should’ve been more comfortable. When you’re 3-1 up and looking for the fourth goal and give the ball away in a bad position, we caused our own problems today.

“We scored three goals away from home and looked a threat. I thought we should have won by more today and I was pleased."

MORE STAGS: Iron 2 Town 3 – report