Nigel Clough keeping his feet on the ground as Mansfield move into play-offs

Posted Sunday, April 03, 2022 by PA

Mansfield boss Nigel Clough knows his side still have work to do after their 1-0 win over rivals Northampton moved them into the play-off places.

Oli Hawkins hit the winner midway through the first half as the promotion-chasers set a new club record of 11 successive home wins.

Northampton came close to levelling when Mitch Pinnock hit the crossbar soon after.

The home side took charge from that point but were unable to double their lead after Liam Roberts made five key saves.

Automatic promotion-chasing Northampton slipped to fourth and lost ground on the top two. Their hopes of a fightback were hit when Paul Lewis was red-carded on 75 minutes for an off-the-ball shove on George Lapslie.

“The performance today warranted three points against one of the top teams in the league,” said Clough.

“We were outstanding from start to finish and there were a lot of fine individual performances today.

“There are still lots of games to go but it’s nice to be back in the top seven and still with the games in hand.

“It was a good cross from Matty Longstaff, we try to put it in the right sort of areas and it was a brilliant header from Oli, along with the rest of his performance today.

“How we haven’t scored another after that is down to their keeper.

“(Mansfield goalkeeper) Nathan Bishop was a spectator for much of the game and especially the second half.

“It is not an absolute certainty that you are going to win the game when you have a man advantage and we wanted that second goal.

“Their keeper made some outstanding saves and they made some excellent blocks, we didn’t get a break but we didn’t need one.”

Northampton boss Jon Brady refused to be too downbeat after defeat.

“It was a soft red card,” he said. “You look at it and their player has milked it, but we can’t be too down about it.

“There are going to be swings and roundabouts and ups and downs, results are down at the moment but we will pick ourselves up.

“I thought, with 10 men, we really pushed them and we were the only team that looked like we would get the next goal.

“The boys put their bodies on the line and the effort was fantastic. Overall it was a good game, but it was just a shame that some of the key moments were not officiated better in my opinion.

“Overall they came out on top, with a controversial decision.

“There are still lots of points to play for and we are in the mix. At the start of the season a lot of people would not have expected us to be where we are now.

“We have got the utmost belief in the group and we know there is plenty of football to play.”