Clough: We must keep our foot on the gas
NIGEL Clough warned his Mansfield players they are not out of trouble just yet after they took a major step towards safety with victory at Stevenage.
Ryan Sweeney’s scrappy first-half strike was all that separated the sides at the Lamex Stadium as the Stags hauled themselves to 49 points in the League Two table – 11 clear of the drop.
“It just eases the pressure on the last few, but we’re not mathematically safe. So until that happens, we keep going,” said Clough.
“It was the old game of two halves in some ways – I thought we were very positive in the first half, closed them down and nicked the ball numerous times just outside their penalty area, but didn’t quite have the quality to make the most of those situations.
“It was nice to score from a set-play, and then we looked after the lead relatively well.”
The visitors dominated the opening period and had the first clear chance of the game, with Jordan Bowery scuffing his effort into the grateful hands of Jamie Cumming in the Stevenage goal.
But they eventually took the lead midway through the first half, with Sweeney poking home from close range after a goalmouth scramble from a corner.
The visitors continued their pressure, but Tyrese Sinclair’s fizzed effort from close range went straight at Cumming.
The home side took hold of the momentum in the second half and had three great chances to draw level within 15 minutes of the restart, with Jack Aitchison blazing the ball over from ten yards before Luke Norris and Elliott List fired efforts straight at Aidan Stone.
They continued to press for an equaliser but a lack of quality in the final third let them down.
Stevenage boss Alex Revell rued his side’s missed opportunities and is calling on a rapid improvement ahead of the visit of Cheltenham Town on Tuesday.
“They had one chance from a set-piece and they scored, and then the second half we dominated completely.
“Missed chances cost the game and goals against you that are really poor cost you games, so we’ve got to look at that,” he added.
“We’ve got to learn quickly before Tuesday because we want to bounce back.”