Nothing wrong with our equaliser said Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough after Gillingham protests

The Gills were furious as the referee allowed Ollie Clarke to take a quick free kick with the home side hesitating for an expected yellow card that was in the official's hand.

Instead Davis Keillor-Dunn ran on to tuck the ball home and then the card was shown to Gillingham's anger.

“I saw the foul and I was hoping Ollie would be able to stay on his feet and pass it.

“Then we just took a quick free kick. I don't think there is anything in the rules against taking a quick free kick. It was just good play.

“Ollie just put the ball down like we practice in training. It's what we tell them to do – get the ball back to where the offence has been committed and let's see if we can play quick.

“The ball went past their centre half and he just stood watching it and Davis finished it well.”

Stags had gone behind after an error from young Leicester loanee Lewis Brunt inside the first 90 seconds.

“We recovered extremely well after the first two minutes.

“Away at second in the league you can't afford to give a goal away. It was a young player making a mistake and he has to learn from that.

“One of the reasons we have done so well defensively is we have not been conceding goals like that.

“I though in the first half we had an element of control in the game and in the second half we had the control and the chances.

“I thought they made some brilliant blocks and nothing quite dropped for us.

“George Maris had a great chance just after half-time and put it over the bar and Davis went clear one on one. You don't get too many chances better than those away at second in the league.

“In the last few games we had shown little glimpses of coming back to the form we were in earlier in the season. We looked a bit more settled.

“To get into October and still be unbeaten after 13 games is absolutely superb. And we have had some tough away fixtures too.”

Stags next host Wrexham on Tuesday night.