'We had nobody else available': Nigel Clough sheds light on depleted Mansfield Town squad as injuries pile up
Mansfield Town’s injury list is growing at a concerning level and their absentees could rise to double figures after the Chesterfield match.
Nigel Clough was without ten regular first team players on Tuesday night, with the bulk of them unavailable due to injury.
Nathan Moriah-Welsh and Jordan Bowery are both on international duty, while Ryan Sweeney was ruled out through suspension.
Deji Oshilaja and Louis Reed were the latest players to join the treatment room and in a fresh injury sucker-punch, Stags could miss yet another senior member of the team after Tuesday’s derby.
Chesterfield got the better of their rivals midweek, producing a four-goal comeback to flip Stags’ previous 3-1 lead completely on its head.
Three goals in the space of eight minutes gave Paul Cook’s side the lead in the second half, before a late penalty hammered the final nail into the coffin.
The Spireites were already through to the next round of the Jersey Mike’s Trophy but their 5-3 win at the One Call Stadium took them to the top of their group, ensuring a home match in the next round.
“It was a mad eight minutes, it could have been anything in the end with the chances at both ends. We’re disappointed to lose the lead in the manner we did,” Clough reflected at full-time.
“It’s no points lost for us, just a bit of local pride. We hate losing, especially to them. The local pride is still at stake, that’s why we put everybody out there who we could and went for it as much as we could, unfortunately it just wasn’t enough.”
Touching on his squad decisions, Clough stressed just how limited his options were against Chesterfield.
“We had nobody else, that’s exactly what we had available. Sweeney was suspended, everybody else was out. Rhys Oates was ill, he shouldn’t have really gone on the pitch at all. George Maris felt rough at half-time…
“The biggest disappointment tonight was Frazer Blake-Tracy feeling his hamstring. Not sure how serious it is, he just said he felt it on the side, so that could cause a problem for MK Dons in ten days’ time if it’s anything serious.
“We’re hoping for good news this week, we will see how he is in the next couple of days.”
Mansfield Town cannot afford another injury set-back, with seven players already confirmed to be out.
During his Monday morning press conference, Clough said Reed was still receiving treatment after picking up a hip problem during the warm-up against Macclesfield at the weekend.
“He’s still in the treatment room, it’s pretty crowded down there,” the manager said. “David McGoldrick, Lucas Akins, Liam Thompson, George Abbott and Deji Oshilaja… there are plenty in there at the moment.”
Baily Cargill also remains on the side-lines but he could join first team training next week as he continues to wait for his first appearance this season.