Nigel Clough lauds Mansfield’s ‘spirit and heart’ in draw at Bradford

Proud Mansfield boss Nigel Clough hailed his players after a 1-1 draw at promotion-chasing Bradford.

The much-changed Stags marked Clough’s 300th game in charge with a battling point at Valley Parade.

Victor Adeboyejo’s first goal for the club was cancelled out by a Tyreik Wright stunner.

Clough, whose tenure has included promotion to League One and memorable FA Cup runs, said: “Our spirit and heart is what has got us the point.

“I had to make a lot of changes because of a number of injuries and a number of lads who certainly couldn’t start the game.

“That squad has gone and proven its worth again.

“Everybody played their part and this is why we’ve come to one of the teams with the best home record in the division and got a point.

“They scored with a really good goal. Liam [Roberts] was a bit unsighted with it and other than that I reckon we see it out.

“It was our sixth game in 18 days and you just can’t keep going like that so it was inevitable we would have to make changes.

“We’ve had some wonderful times and memories in those 300 games. I wish we had won 1-0 as that would have made it perfect.

“I couldn’t be more pleased for Victor. If anyone’s needed a goal in the last few weeks it’s him.

“He knew exactly what he was doing, he opened himself up and side-footed it into the net.”

Bradford boss Graham Alexander was left wanting more after his side were forced to settle for a point.

He said: “We should win the game. The goal we concede is a scruffy goal. We lose a couple of duels.

“To the fair, the lad hasn’t even shot, it’s a mishit shot and it comes off the other guy’s foot and goes into the corner.

“It was one way traffic in the second half. We scored a cracking goal through Tyreik. We should score more goals in that game.

“We had five goalscorers up there. We had an attacking threat.

“I feel for the players sometimes because the ball’s bouncing all around when they’re about to pull the trigger.

“I thought we got done by a sucker punch. You need to just clear your lines.

“We didn’t take advantage of our good moments. There are moments we should have done better.

“We haven’t defended well enough as individuals and that hurt us. It was the same game we’ve seen many times here, the opposition get ahead and that’s it.

“It was the same Saturday, Wigan played like the away team and there were 58 minutes of dead time.”