Our luck will turn says Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough ahead of Crewe Alexandra visit

Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough has told his side their luck will turn and to carry on playing as they are ahead of Saturday's visit of Crewe Alexandra.
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Stags saw a 2-0 lead turn into a 3-2 defeat at home to Barrow last weekend but Clough said: “You look at the last two games against Walsall and Barrow and we have conceded five goals and the total number of shots on goal against us over those two games has been five – a 100 per cent conversion rate.

“The goal just before half-time on Saturday changed the whole complex of the game and the whole atmosphere in the stadium.

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“We are making mistakes and not helping ourselves, but we are getting punished for them, probably disproportionately and it won't continue. But the best way to avoid that is not to make the mistakes.

Stags on their way to victory at Crewe in September.Stags on their way to victory at Crewe in September.
Stags on their way to victory at Crewe in September.

“The last two performances were not bad performances and could have easily have yielded six points.

“In fact in the last four games we have got four points but could have beaten Northampton bar the mistake in the 88th minute and performances were probably good enough to get something against Walsall and Barrow.”

He added: “I want more of the same on Saturday. It's important we play with confidence and freedom – and in the last two games against Walsall and Barrow we have done that.

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“Going forward we have created lots of chances and lots of situations. Our general football has been good so we don't need much to change other than concentrate at certain times and try not to make those mistakes.

“That is how close we are. We are sitting here with four points out of 12 over Christmas and early January. Without doing too much differently we could have easily had all 12 points. That is how close it is and we keep emphasising that to the players. We have a good team and a good squad – just keep proving it.

“It is ironic that I don't think we were brilliant at home to Northampton and we battled at Hartlepool and got four points from those games, but I think in terms of football the last two performances have been better than those and we got no points.”

Clough said the costly errors happened at all levels of the game.

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“Other teams make mistakes too, but it's just whether you get away with it or not,” he said.

“You just have these runs where it seems every little mistake you make ends up in a goal.

“We just have to concentrate on not making those errors. And it's the timings as well, we really have to concentrate leading up to half-time and just after half-time even more. It's about intelligence and character.

“But players do make mistakes. I saw Aston Villa in the 88th minute at home to Stevenage in the FA Cup make one and get caught.

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“You watch every Premier League game and they are giving it away playing out from the back. You saw Liverpool's goalkeeper give one away against Wolves when he passed it straight to an opponent 15 yards away. They are humans and they make mistakes. We have just got to minimise them.

“We are not that sort of team and we don't take those sorts of risks.

“I know certain teams play out from the back no matter what. With that ethos you are going to lose the odd ball and concede goals.

“We don't have that. We tell our players to play what's on. Some teams close you down better and some don't. They have to make those decisions and they're making the wrong ones - only once or twice, but we are not getting away with it.”

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On opponents Crewe, he said: “I have watched them two or three times this season and they don't half hang on in there in games.

“I watched them against Leeds in the Papa Johns and Leeds must have had 70 per cent of the game. But Crewe defended fantastically and ended up nicking it on penalties.

“They had a very good 0-0 at home on Saturday. They have some very good centre halves that keep them in games.

“I know Lee Bell (Crewe manager) from his time on loan at Burton from Crewe and him and Alex (assistant Morris) are trying to get a balance in the way they play.

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“Everyone associates Crewe with this way of playing, but they are battling away in League Two and probably haven't got the players to play the way Crewe always have done. So they're trying to navigate a way through and I think they are doing very well at it.

“Lee was a great lad in the dressing room and a great competitor on the pitch. He loved winning and I think he will take that into his management and coaching career.

“Our win up there in September really set them back. I think they went about seven games after that without a win. It really knocked the stuffing out of them.

“And that's how we are a little bit at the moment. We are a bit fragile.

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“You lose one and all of a sudden you're looking over your shoulder wondering are we going to lose the next one?”

Stags have only won of their last six home outings and Clough said: “Our home form has taken a big dip compared with where we were 12 months ago.

“The message is the same. We are doing the same things and have the same principles. We are concentrating on the same things in training that we were 12 months ago when we went on that record run of home wins. So we are desperately trying to get back to that.

“It was as big a disappointment as anything on Saturday in that at 2-0 up at home you have a great opportunity to get a home victory and build on the back of the point with Northampton.

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“The players are so desperate to do well and we look a little nervous at home at the moment. They have to take that out of it and just concentrate on making the right decisions at the right times.”

Stephen McLaughlin is a doubt for Saturday.

“He is not training and we will have to see how he is towards Friday,” said Clough.

“He came off with an ankle injury of which we have three at the moment with Lucas Akins and Kieran Wallace as well. One was a block tackle, one was a kick and one was a twist.

“I would say he is 50-50 at the moment. Of the three, Kieran Wallace has probably got the best chance, but we're hopeful.

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“You hope they improve over the next two or three days enough to train on Friday morning. If not we are always wary of having them involved on a Saturday.”

Stags are ninth and out the play-off spots but only a single point off fourth.

“The top three are pretty set at the moment and they are strong and as confident as anyone in the league,” said Clough.

“But there are only a few points between the other sides and I think it's brilliant for the competition side of it and the excitement side as everyone is in with a chance and this is what the play-offs were brought in for - going into the second half of the season so many teams are still in contention.”