Nigel Clough hoping luck will change as Mansfield Town chase elusive win

Nigel Clough believes his team have deserved more in recent weeks.

Clough is preparing his side for the visit of Tranmere Rovers on Saturday, following encouraging performances in recent weeks that haven’t warranted as many points as the Stags boss thinks were deserved.

And he’s now hoping that changes on Saturday.

He said: “The last two performances give us a lot of belief. We should have beaten Port Vale. It was a brilliant performance.

“Then we go down to Exeter with seven defenders out and get ahead and on a different day I think we'd get at least a point out of the game.

“But on the run we're in that's not happening.

“I think the mood is upbeat, despite the run and I think everyone thinks it's just a matter of time before we get that win, hopefully it's against Tranmere on Saturday, and then we'll be away.

“There are players coming back, performances have improved, that's no coincidence. It's a confidence factor now and we can get that back with a win.

“I think we've showed what we can do at the start of the season.

“Tranmere are very similar to last season. They've got good experience in Peter Clarke and Jay Spearing – two of the best players in the league.

“Clarke at centre half is 39 now and still going strong. He is instrumental in the organisation of their back four.

“He was our James Perch, we had him for that sort of thing and it would be interesting to see how they'd do if they lost him.”

As for the run of results Stags have been on, Clough believes it’s unprecedented in his own managerial career and feels it’s been down to several reasons.

He said: “I would think this is the worst run of results I've ever been involved in – I don't know statistically if that's true or not but it certainly feels like it at the moment.

“But it's not just the worst run of results, it's the worst run of circumstances that we've had to contend with as well.

“What we are feeling now is the after-effects of this run of injuries and suspensions we've had in the last few weeks and, even after two good performances, we can't get a win.

“In a normal run when you'd win a couple, draw a couple and lose a couple I think in the last two games we'd have certainly had a win.”