Summer clearout on the way as Mansfield Town aim to bring in six or seven better quality players

And that will doubtless force the departure of some familiar faces.

Clough knows the Stags are so close to being a real force at this level and that only a string of injuries has seen them sink from the play-offs battle to looking over their shoulders.

“We have to look towards next season from January onwards, but the job is certainly not complete this season yet and we are taking absolutely nothing for granted until we are safe,” he said.

“Another win should see us there and I think we are more than capable of that.

“We are not keen on doing it, but we do have to start those discussions, even though we are not safe yet.

“We have to say that if we are still in this league then what sort of players are we after and start discussions as early as we can.

“Next season we will need six or seven better players.

“That will put us in a much more favourable position when those opportunities we keep missing come along as our general performances are not too far away.

“Better players are more consistent in their performances and their finishing.”

Clough knows that will mean something of a clear out of the old guard who took Stags up from League Two in last season's glorious promotion.

“There are always difficult discussions to be had each summer, especially with players who have been such good servants for so long,” he said.

“But naturally things will evolve and change.

“We certainly need six or seven fresh players coming in and people have to go to make way for that.”

Stags were pipped 2-1 at Huddersfield Town on Saturday in a game in which they missed key chances to win it.

“We have some frustrating games this season – and that is right up there with them,” he said.

“To have the opportunities we had in the game and to come away with nothing is frustrating.

“The last two games have been such missed opportunities to get towards that 50-point mark, even if they had been two draws. So it is incredibly frustrating to lose both games.

“The worst performance in our last three games is Bristol Rovers by a country mile, and we won that.

“Our worst two performances this season have probably been Northampton away and Bristol Rovers away – and we won both games.

“We have just played two ex-Premier League sides, who are right up there and have big budgets, played well and lost the games.

“We do have to acknowledge that we went to Huddersfield with six or seven in the treatment room and still got close to them, so it is a positive sign and makes us optimistic going forward.

It indicates we are not too far away from these sides.

“We now need to identify why we are losing the games and find out what we need to do to turn those fine margins in our favour. That is all that is stopping us at the moment.”

He added: “We proved early in the season when we were in the top six before we got the injuries and everything, that if we can get our best side out, or close to it, on the pitch this season then we could have a go at everyone in this league. And when we did have that side out that is what we did.

“We were only losing games by one goal, fine margins, and that is sometimes the difference – the quality of the player we have on the pitch.

“You know you will get injuries, but you hope they are not to such key players for such long periods of time.

“We had two left backs here and both are out injured at the same time – and you can't carry three left backs on your books.

“The squads of the bigger clubs with the bigger resources are inevitably better equipped to deal with a few injuries as their back-up players are better.”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​