Nigel Clough says Mansfield were ‘overdue’ break that helped them beat Reading

Nigel Clough said his Mansfield side were “overdue” the break that helped them secure a first win in 10 League One matches by defeating promotion hopefuls Reading 1-0.

Louis Reed scored a deflected winner in the 69th minute to ease Mansfield’s relegation worries, as their opponents missed the chance to move into the top six for the first time this season.

Victory followed an excellent performance on Saturday in the fifth round of the FA Cup against Premier League leaders Arsenal, who were grateful to leave the One Call Stadium with a 2-1 victory.

Clough’s side could have beaten Reading by a greater margin, with visiting goalkeeper Joel Pereira making four fine saves to deny Jon Russell, Will Evans twice and Stephen McLaughlin.

But the manager was pleased enough with captain Reed’s winner.

“I think it might have been on its way in anyway,” he said. “We’re not sure. It was a very good strike, but the deflection certainly helped.

“I think that’s maybe the first one we’ve had, and we’re in the middle of March. I can’t think of any others we’ve had that have gone our way, so we were certainly overdue a break.”

Clough was also happy with the way his players kept their composure in a fierce swirling wind that made life difficult for both teams.

He added: “It’s a big win. We haven’t won for quite a few weeks, when we’ve deserved to. We’ve done enough to win matches, so it’s a special one tonight. It gets us 44 points. Another couple of wins and a draw and we’re not far off.

“It’s funny because we haven’t lost that many. Since Boxing Day, we’ve lost four games [in all competitions]. We’ve had a lot of draws in that time, but the draws build the confidence and then they turn into victories like tonight.”

Reading’s defeat ended a six-match unbeaten run, but they could have scored in the first two minutes when Kamari Doyle had a shot blocked, while Benn Ward nearly saved a point at the end with a header that keeper Liam Roberts kept out at the near post.

Manager Leam Richardson said: “Mansfield deserved the win. They played the conditions miles better than we did in the second half.

“We won’t be defined by one game, as we weren’t on Saturday when we won [at Luton].

“So, of course, we’ll be disappointed. The fans who’ve travelled up on a Tuesday night to Mansfield in these conditions, I’ve got real appreciation for them.

“And you always want to give them that extra bit to take with them when they get in the cars, and get on the coaches, to go home. We weren’t able to do that tonight, but we will give them better nights than we did tonight.”