Nigel Clough hails ‘brilliant’ start to season for Mansfield

Posted Wednesday, October 02, 2024 by PA

Mansfield boss Nigel Clough felt his side’s 2-0 victory at Crawley felt better than the triumph over Northampton by the same scoreline last Saturday.

The Stags moved up to third in League One with a fourth successive win thanks to Lee Gregory’s early strike and a stoppage-time clincher from substitute Ben Waine.

Clough reckoned the Stags were thoroughly good value for maximum points and hailed their impressive start to the season.

He said: “To be sitting third in the table with 17 points from eight games is brilliant.

“It’s quite remarkable to get the three points, a clean sheet and for us to win four in a row.

“Crawley are a very good side and they had a new manager sitting in the stand but our whole squad and not just the team were up for it and we’ve sent our supporters home with a smile on their face.

“This was a tough game coming after Saturday but the outcome felt better.”

Mansfield lost striker Gregory and defender Baily Cargill at half-time with injuries and Clough rates Gregory as doubtful for Saturday’s home game against Blackpool due to a hamstring injury.

Crawley’s defeat leaves them without a win in their last six league games, their longest winless spell for nearly 11 months, but interim boss Ben Gladwin is backing them to get better as the season goes on.

He said: “In the second half we had a lot of control and if one of them goes in it’s a very different game.

“Unfortunately it didn’t but the boys gave everything and they are trying their absolute best so I can’t fault them.

“They are a relatively young group and they are all learning. I’ve no doubt throughout the season they’ll continue to improve.”

Former Reds captain Gladwin plans to have a meeting with newly-appointed boss Rob Elliot on Wednesday having taken charge of the team for two games following the departure of Scott Lindsey to MK Dons.

He added: “We have arranged to have a chat about the situation and we’ll see how things progress moving forward.

“I want to be a manager at some stage in the future, it’s probably not right now.

“There’s so many parts of the job I can do really well and I’ve enjoyed and other parts I’m not quite ready with yet.”