Nigel Clough: Mansfield Town 'gave the ball away too much' but still secured 'important' point against Wigan
Nigel Clough stressed the importance of Mansfield Town not allowing their defeat to Notts County to send them into a spiral.
The manager told his players before the match it was crucial they avoided another loss following their disappointing derby day performance at the weekend.
Stags played out a 0-0 draw against Wigan Athletic on Tuesday to take a valuable point home and extend their unbeaten run on the road.
Clough admitted it was a ‘frustrating’ evening at the Brick Community Stadium but he recognises the importance of the draw.
“It was very important after Saturday’s disappointment not to have back-to-back defeats,” the boss told BBC Sport at full-time. “I thought we slightly edged it, certainly in the first half, and had the better chances.
“They had a good one with their one-on-one but we had a great chance with Michael Smith and then George Maris has done the same, gone in one-on-one. We had numerous other situations we didn’t make the most of but I thought it was quite an entertaining 0-0.”
Stags had a few chances to take the lead but weren’t able to find an end product. Clough noted there were more occasions of sloppy passing as well this evening, having highlighted that as a major concern against Notts County.
“I did think we gave the ball away too much tonight, especially on the right-hand side. We did on Saturday against Notts, I didn’t think Nathan Moriah-Welsh and Jon Russell were working particularly well on Saturday. We gave them another go tonight and I don’t think they got going again tonight as well, which is why we made the changes at half-time.
“It was a bit of a frustrating one but an important point in the end.”
The result resets Stags’ disappointing experience in the Nottinghamshire Derby. Ahead of the trip to Wigan, Clough stressed the importance of not allowing the County defeat influence over their performance.
“I said to the players earlier, if we do lose games throughout the season, which inevitably we will, don’t lose two on the spin. Because then you’re heading into the third one and it just builds up a little bit.
“I thought we were much better tonight in our pressing and our closing down than we were against Notts County, our energy was better. If we’d have gotten a point against Notts, it would have been an even better one tonight but it’s still a good point for us and not to lose back-to-back games.”