Mansfield Town kept their third League One clean sheet of the season on Tuesday after their draw with Wigan but Ryan Sweeney wants to see more from his side.

Stags played out a goalless draw at the Brick Community Stadium to take home an important point and put their derby day defeat behind them.

The weekend delivered a disappointing result as not only did Stags lose to local rivals Notts County but their recent run of impressive form seemed to have been left at the door.

Mansfield started the season with some hot and cold results. Clough described the first handful of games as ‘topsy-turvy’, having gone from breezing past Luton Town 5-2 to a humbling 5-0 defeat to Reading immediately after.

Mansfield Town defender Ryan Sweeney during the Sky Bet League 1 match against Lincoln City FC, LNER Stadium, 30 August 2025 Photo credit Chris & Jeanette Holloway / The Bigger Picture.media

placeholder image — Mansfield Town defender Ryan Sweeney during the Sky Bet League 1 match against Lincoln City FC, LNER Stadium, 30 August 2025 Photo credit Chris & Jeanette Holloway / The Bigger Picture.media

The loss at the Madejski was undoubtedly a low point in Stags’ season but it has been pinned as more of a freak result, rather than an early warning sign of an unwanted pattern looming.

Ryan Sweeney believes Mansfield Town’s defence overall has been okay this season but has acknowledged the need for improvement.

Speaking in his press conference following the Notts County defeat, the captain said: “The defence could be better. We had a really good defensive record last season, so looking at clean sheets, we could definitely have more. We want to improve there and put more clean sheets on the board, but it’s not been too bad.”

Since then, Stags held firm against Wigan and will now face consecutive Cup matches before returning to League One action.

“I don’t think we’ve done an awful lot wrong defensively,” Sweeney continued. “We looked quite open on Saturday, so we want to get back to being a bit tighter, but it’s been okay in patches.”

Mansfield Town have conceded 18 goals so far this season but the league table is already showing interesting figures.

Third-placed Luton Town have let in 21 goals so far – the joint-most in the top 10 – averaging at 1.5 goals conceded per match. Meanwhile, Bradford City have the lowest in entire division, with just eight goals scored against them while sitting in seventh.

These early weeks in the season are already proving to be seriously competitive, with surprises around every corner.