Nigel Clough hails ‘absolutely brilliant’ Mansfield after passing 50-point mark

Nigel Clough admitted it felt “absolutely brilliant” to see his Mansfield side move beyond the 50-point mark in League One with a 2-0 win at Doncaster.

Goals from Rhys Oates and Jon Russell saw the Stags emerge comfortable victors at the Eco-Power Stadium to reach 52 points and extend their unbeaten run to six matches.

Clough has now set his sights on bettering last term’s 54-point haul and climbing the table as much as possible over the remaining weeks of the campaign.

He said: “It’s absolutely brilliant to be in the position we are and we’re now two points off last season’s tally.

“It should be enough now I think, with the goal difference that we’ve got, to keep us in the league. But we want to press on and see what we can get and definitely surpass last season’s total, then see where we can go with eight games to go.

“The lads can maybe play with a bit more freedom but within the confines of the structure and trying to win the game as we always do.

“We want more clean sheets. Twelve is a brilliant return so far but we want more.

“We think we’ll always nick a goal so it’s about making sure we always stay solid, starting against Burton on Monday.

“I thought this one was a very scrappy game which was nothing to do with the quality of the two teams but the quality of the pitch. The first half was a nothing half without many shots, which isn’t the worst thing as an away team.”

Doncaster boss Grant McCann insists none of his players will get away with having the mindset that their season is over.

McCann was frustrated with large aspects of Rovers’ performance in the defeat to Mansfield and criticised some of his players’ body language during a second half in which they struggled to make an impression on the game.

He said: “We were really poor, particularly in the second half. We looked done as soon as they scored the first goal.

“I said to the players afterwards that their body language was horrendous once they scored and that is not what we’re about.

“That was a horrendous performance from us, not good enough, and we were deservedly beat.

“We looked second best to Mansfield in the second half and they showed more heart and desire, which is not something that I’ve said a lot of times about my team since I’ve been at the football club but it was evident today.

“There’s no point in my sugar-coating it – they seemed to want to win that game more than we did. That’s not acceptable.

“For us to not take a shot at the goalkeeper all game, it’s embarrassing.”