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Archived News from March 2021

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1st March 2021 0:17


Boss calls for ‘character’ in Shrimps clash
mansfieldtown.net, Friday 26th February 2021

Manager Nigel Clough has called for ‘character’ and ‘resilience’ from his team in Saturday’s Sky Bet League Two clash at home to Morecambe.

The Shrimps head into the match sitting fourth in the league standings, with the amber and blue searching for a return to winning ways.

The Mansfield boss says the Stags will be looking for a result that will restore some confidence in the Stags’ dressing room.

“Apart from the second-half the other night [against Harrogate], our performances haven’t been too bad,” he told iFollow Stags.

“We just dipped in that second-half and the demoralising effect of that goal we gave away was mainly responsible for that.

“We just want to get back to doing what we were doing. We have to be harder to score against, that’s it at the moment.

https://www.mansfieldtown.net/news/2021/february/boss-calls-for-character-in-shrimps-clash/

“Our forward play is not too bad. Although we haven’t scored in the last two, we’ve created chances, so it’s more defensively [we have to focus on].

“I think [we’ll need] that resilience [against Morecambe] and a bit of character. We’re playing a team absolutely full of confidence and we’re probably the opposite at the moment.

“You need some character to get a result, in order to start restoring that confidence. That’s what we’ll be looking for.”

Nigel Clough offered his final thoughts on Tuesday’s disappointing defeat to Harrogate Town, adding: “It [Harrogate loss] didn’t need too much analysis - we gave away a goal that I described at the time as ‘criminal’ and that still applies.

“It’s exactly the same sort of game at Southend or anything like that, when we say, ‘no mistakes and don’t give a goal away,’ then the minimum you come away with is a nil-nil.

“But the bare minimum on Tuesday should be a nil-nil and it would’ve been without that ridiculous goal we gave away.

“The performance first-half was okay. I thought we took the game to them and we had three or four reasonable opportunities.

“Second-half, once we’d given them the goal, they are exactly the sort of team then that defend it very well.

“Everyone makes mistakes and we get that. The one we made the other night was an honest mistake, but it’s not good enough.

“But it was very important that we put it to bed, you don’t want it lingering. We move on now and try to get back to winning ways.”

There was also an injury update on full-back Stephen McLaughlin, who was substituted at half-time on Tuesday, and midfielder George Lapslie, who is continuing his recovery from a hamstring injury.

“He [McLaughlin] twisted his ankle and also had a very tight hamstring as well. I would think he’s doubtful for the [Morecambe] game.

“He [Lapslie] is back with his rehab and is jogging now. We’re two, two-and-a-half weeks since he did it at Walsall, and we originally said four weeks minimum.

“He has another ten days of work to do then we’ll hopefully see him back involved.”

iFollow Stags subscribers can watch the manager’s interview in full by logging into mansfieldtown.net/ifollow later today.

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Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough wants to taste the winning feeling
chad.co.uk, By Stephen Thirkill, Friday 26th February 2021

Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough is desperate to rediscover the winning feeling.

Stags entertain promotion-chasing Morecambe at home tomorrow on the back of five games without a win.

And Clough is all too aware it is a streak that Mansfield need to snap quickly.

“We have to start winning to get the confidence back up again,” he said. “We have to stop the losses and then turn them into the wins.

https://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/mansfield-town-boss-nigel-clough-wants-to-taste-the-winning-feeling-3147832

“Lots of teams are having winning and losing streaks. It’s a funny season in football right now across the various divisions.

“People’s confidence is fragile across society at the moment, maybe it is getting through to the players.

“We want to get back to the winning feeling, it is a good feeling.

“We were flying before the break, then we had one game in four weeks and it has affected us without a doubt.

“We have to build up that momentum again.”

But it is a run of form which Clough is keen to put into some perspective with Stags having bagged 17 points from their last ten games.

“Over the last ten games we would be happy with that run,” he said. “Because it has come in two batches of five games, and we are on a bad run, it doesn't look as good.

“Over the ten games it is not bad form for a team who were struggling against relegation.

“I didn’t think we were the best team in the league when we won five in a row and we are not the worst now we have not won in five games.

“We will not get too carried away or too down and will keep it in perspective.

“Any team can beat anybody in this division. It is an incredibly even league and it makes it a dangerous season.

“It shows every game, that if you are not quite at it you can get turned over.

“If we had had a fairer week last week then we would be in the pack and we want to get into the top half in the coming weeks.”

And after the disappointing 1-0 defeat at Harrogate in midweek, Clough knows his side must start to defend better in order for the wins to come.

“It was one of those nights where you don't make an error and you will get a clean sheet and a point at least,” said Clough.

“It was criminal to give the goal away in the way we did and it cost us the game. We have to defend better than that.

“Harrogate are a team that are great at hanging on to a 1-0 lead. The conditions did not help us and we struggled to get back into it.

“We have to put it out of our mind now. The teams that recover best are the ones that do well.”

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Nigel Clough says Mansfield Town can learn lessons from slump in form
chad.co.uk, By Stephen Thirkill, Friday 26th February 2021

Nigel Clough believes his Mansfield Town players can take lessons from their recent slump in form.

Stags are without a win in five having previously won five on the spin.

And, although happy with his team’s points tally over the course of the ten matches, Clough says it highlights the importance of consistency and not making mistakes.

“Nobody means to make mistakes but the goal we conceded at Harrogate was criminal,” he said.

https://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/nigel-clough-says-mansfield-town-can-learn-lessons-from-slump-in-form-3148171

“We can't afford that too many times over a season if we are to challenge (next year), so that has been one of the big lessons to learn over the last week.

“Against Bolton we were 2-0 up with 11 minutes to go. There wasn't much we could do about the first two goals, but don't concede the third goal. We would still have been distraught, but at least we wouldn’t have lost.

“We could have had two more draws easily, that is the lesson - don't lose games from the positions we’ve been in.

“You can soon climb the table with draws here and there because points add up.

“Even when you're not playing well, a 0-0 at Harrogate is another point on the board, another game without defeat and something to build on.

“It is the defeats that really hit the confidence.”

Clough is also taking heart out of the bigger picture as he looks to put the building blocks in place for a successful promotion push next season.

“We know we are not too far away,” he said. “The results have dipped alarmingly for whatever reason, but the performances haven't. The performances have still not been too bad.

“This is just one of those things. It has evened itself out over the last ten games.

“I hope over the next ten games we can have a similar run, we would take five wins from the next ten.

“You have to look at the bigger picture. It seems to be throughout football at the moment that you win a load and then lose a load.

“Games are coming so thick and fast you can suddenly lose three games in six days.

“We know that we can be good, but we know we are capable of giving away silly goals and conceding defeats and we shouldn't be.

“I didn't see it coming to this degree.We didn't want to go five without a win, but we know how fragile confidence can be in football

“You never know what is coming around the corner in football.”

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DEREK ADAMS - We're On A Fantastic Run
morecambefc.com, Friday 26th February 2021

Derek Adams' side travel to the One Call Stadium this Saturday afternoon to face Mansfield Town in Sky Bet League Two.

Nigel Clough's side are without a win throughout February, losing their last three consecutive fixtures.

The poor run of results comes in stark contrast to January, when the Stags took maximum points winning all four fixtures.

https://www.morecambefc.com/news/2021/february/adams-pre-mansfield/

"Mansfield had a very good run," said Adams.

"I watched them a couple of games back when they lost at home to Bolton and I thought they played really well on the night.

"Nigel Clough has gone in there back in November but I thought they were always a good side under Graham Coughlan.

"I thought Graham was hard done by to lose his job, but Nigel has come in and changed things about and they have been able to pick up some good results."

The Shrimps' victory over Salford City midweek keeps Adams' side in fourth place in the league table, trailing third placed Cheltenham Town by a single point. League leaders Cambridge United are three points clear of the Shrimps on 52 points.

Adams continued: "We're on a fantastic run ourselves after playing really well for a good period now. We've had a good win against Salford on Tuesday night and we go into this game looking forward to it."

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Morecambe manager wants to build on midweek success with their trip to Mansfield Town
The Morecambe Visitor, By Gavin Browne, Friday 26th February 2021

Morecambe boss Derek Adams believes tomorrow’s hosts Mansfield Town are a perfect example of how closely-fought League Two has been this season.

The Shrimps make the journey on the back of their midweek win against Salford City, one which left them fourth in the table and only three points behind leaders Cambridge United.

In contrast, the Stags lost at Harrogate Town on Tuesday, and while it was their third consecutive defeat, Nigel Clough’s players had only lost one in 12 before that.

“It just shows you a tight a division it is,” Adams said. “Nigel Clough has gone in there and he’s got a very good squad.

https://www.thevisitor.co.uk/sport/football/morecambe-manager-wants-to-build-on-midweek-success-with-their-trip-to-mansfield-town-3147057

“Graham Coughlan (former manager) put a base in, Nigel has taken over and has added to that squad in January.

“However, we have shown we are a team that can go to different places and try to get victories - and victories are what matters.

“We have got one of the best away records in the division - I think it’s the third best - and we’ll look to continue that at Mansfield. We are in a fabulous position with 49 points and 16 games to go.

“We’re just trying to finish as high as we can and we have a lot of very good games to come.”

With those 16 games of the season to go, Morecambe remain handily placed in the table albeit having played more games than most of the chasing pack.

Eight victories and three draws from the last 15 matches have lifted Adams’ players into the top four.

Central to that is their well-documented ability to score goals late on in games.

The injury-time goals from Carlos Mendes Gomes and Aaron Wildig in midweek mean the Shrimps have now scored a dozen times in the last 15 minutes of matches this season.

“We had chances in the second half,” Adams said.

“We just felt we needed to take that opportunity and it was all our play in the second half.

“They were always going to have a kind of a counter-attack against us because we were taking huge risks.

“That paid off in the end where we get into good areas and it’s no more than we deserved.”

While some fans might be dreaming of a first season in League One, players and staff aren’t looking as far ahead.

Instead, Adams stressed the need to take it on a game-by-game basis going into a busy stage of the season.

He said: “It’s important that we do that. We have got a lot of games to be played, still a lot of Saturday-Tuesday games to come.

“The players are hungry and they just keep going.”

Nat Knight-Percival, who limped off against Salford, will be monitored but, as it stands, he is the only possible absentee for tomorrow.

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