Rare error from ‘immaculate’ Christy Pym proved costly said Nigel Clough after Mansfield Town lose at home to Crawley Town

Pym had made a string of fine saves to keep Crawley at bay but failed to hold onto a Will Swan shot nine minutes from time and was punished by sub Ade Adeyemo, who buried a follow-up from close range.

It was a fourth defeat in a row for Stags and Clough said confidence was low.

“I thought we were good value for a draw tonight, though I thought Crawley played well tonight, especially in spells in the second half,” said Clough.

“It was just ironic that Christy made a mistake when he had been immaculate – he made some fantastic saves tonight and then spilled the easy one which cost us the game.

“One slipped out his hands and their lad was able to tap it in from close range.

“Christy has had one poor game all season at Lincoln, apart from that he has been immaculate as always and just when we needed him to see out that last 10 minutes tonight he's spilled one.

“For the next 10-15 minutes we pushed as much as we could and Flinty (Aden Flint) was inches off getting us an equaliser. That's the way it's going.

“That's four defeats on the spin now and you can see our confidence dwindling by the minute.

“We now need to scrap and fight to stop this run like we did at Charlton earlier in the season. We need to work a bit harder and stop the rot.”

He added: “We knew it would be a difficult game for us tonight because of the way Crawley play.

“We needed to be better on the ball, but that's not easy when you are low on confidence.

“When you get the ball you have to look after it better against a team like Crawley. We gave it away too cheaply too many times.

“We struggled to create and to get the quality from midfield into our front two.

“Scoring the first goal is crucial when you're low on confidence.”

Stags ever-present Deji Oshilaja limped off in early in the game and Clough said: “Losing our best defender after 15 minutes didn't help. He has strained his thigh so I think he will be a few weeks. “He's been our best player this season so that won't help our situation.”