Archived News from March 2022
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CLOUGH AND ANDY CROSBY REACTION
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We need to ‘bounce back’ - boss
mansfieldtown.net, Tuesday 15th March 2022 Mansfield Town manager Nigel Clough says his squad need to ‘bounce back’ at home to Stevenage on Saturday following tonight’s 3-1 loss at Port Vale. The Stags have lost the last two matches, having remained undefeated for 14 league matches prior. Speaking to the media post-match, the gaffer said: “I thought at 1-1 we were very much in the game [tonight]. https://www.mansfieldtown.net/news/2022/march/we-need-to-bounce-back---boss/ “I thought we were having the better of it [the game’s key moments]. “We missed a great chance with George Lapslie to go 2-1 up. “In the first-half, Nathan Bishop makes a very, very rare mistake [for Port Vale’s first goal], that lets them back in. “We were under the cosh a little bit, late on in the first-half and early on in the second-half. “We put Hawks [Oli Hawkins] up front, we took the initiative and if we get that second goal you never know what happens. "Two minutes before they score the second one, they slice on to the crossbar. They are the key incidents which meant we didn't get a result tonight. “I don’t think things are particularly going for us. We’re not playing fantastic but certainly [for] spells in the game we were good enough tonight. “We [must] bounce back and we start again on Saturday, that’s all we can do. “We’ve got to win on Saturday. “It’s lovely to be back at home on Saturday, [we’re] looking forward to it.” The gaffer hopes that the last two results are just a ‘dip’ and that Mansfield can go on another unbeaten run between now and the end of the season. “They’ve [the players] got to clear their heads in the next two days and get ready for the weekend,” he said. “We’ll try and break the record and get 11 consecutive home wins. “I hope we’re [just] having a dip. “We had 14 games to go, we lost a couple now on the road at two of our promotion-challenging rivals. “I hope that’s out the way now and we’re going to do our best to go unbeaten in the last 12.” Forward Rhys Oates bagged his tenth goal in all competitions this evening with an expertly taken opener. “They play three centre-halves, so it was just [a case of] getting him [Oates] with his pace [at them] and exposing it [the backline]. “Kieran Wallace played a good through ball and we get the 1-0 lead. “I thought we were pretty comfortable after that until the goalkeeping error.” Midfielder, Kieran Wallace made his first start for the Stags this evening. The midfielder’s impressive performance highlighted the importance all members of the squad will have between now and May. “I thought Kieran Wallace played well tonight,” said Nigel. “I thought he did really well, I’m pleased with his performance. “We said with the run of games that we’re having; people have to come in and they’ve got to be ready to come in for the odd game. “Danny Johnson wasn’t in the 18 on Saturday, [he] got on the pitch tonight. “The whole squad is going to play a part.” The boss provided an update on the injury latest when asked what he believes led to tonight’s loss. "I think there was a big of a hangover from Friday night (defeat at Tranmere). And also the injuries as well. “Losing Matty Longstaff [due to injury] who’s got three [goals] in three [games] for us. “Losing Quinny, losing Lucas Akins, and the only other change; we decided to give Elliott Hewitt a breather tonight. “I think he’s [Hewitt] played almost every game and mentally he needs a rest. “It was a combination of things. “The tackle early on in the [Tranmere] game [injured Quinn].” Watch the manager's interview in full now by clicking here. ----------------------- Clough on the injuries: “Yeah he(Quinn)’s injured (from) the tackle early on in the game on Friday at Tranmere, (his) ankle. “We’ve done unbelievably well in the run (of form) to be largely injury free and now all of a sudden you pick up two or three.” Clough on Perch: "When we started the season, he was one of our best players and one of the first names on the team sheet. We've missed such an important player for a large part of the season. "You see tonight the effect of missing people like Stephen Quinn and Lucas Akins and Matty Longstaff, three important players for us, and we're not quite as good team without them." ---------------------- Mansfield Town players told to clear their heads by manager Nigel Clough after double defeat rocks promotion push chad.co.uk, Tuesday 15th March 2022 Boss Nigel Clough told his Mansfield Town players to clear their heads ahead of Saturday's huge home clash with Stevenage after two away defeats in five days saw his promotion hopefuls dip down to 10th place in League Two. Defeat at Tranmere on Friday ended Stags' 14-game unbeaten run and tonight they lost 3-1 at Port Vale after being ahead. “I don't think things are particularly going for us,” said Clough. “We are not playing fantastic, but certainly in spells of the game we were good enough tonight. https://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/mansfield-town-players-told-to-clear-their-heads-by-manager-nigel-clough-after-double-defeat-rocks-promotion-push-3613086 “We have gone from a spell where things were running for us, and deservedly so, to now making errors and being punished for them. “We probably made one or two errors in the unbeaten run we didn't get punished for. “The players have to clear their heads in the next two days and get ready for the weekend when we try to break the record with 11 consecutive home wins. “We've now lost a couple on the road to promotion-challenging rivals so I hope our dip is out the way and we will do our best to win the last 12.” "We'll look at our options for Saturday, that's one good thing about the squad we've got. It provides with lots of options, too many sometimes if I'm honest. Stags made four changes tonight and Clough admitted: “Injuries didn't help - losing Matty Longstaff - who has scored three in three for us, losing Quinny (Stephen Quinn), losing Lucas Akins too. “We decided to give Elliott Hewitt a breather tonight as he has played almost every game and mentally needed a rest. “Going so long unbeaten, it felt such a sickener to lose on Friday and sometimes you might then lose two on the spin. “That's why it's important they clear their heads now and we bounce back and start again Saturday. That's all we can do. “We have another three tough trips after that on the road, so we have got to win on Saturday. It will be lovely to be back at home. “The away games have just caught up with us a bit in the last few days, having so many of them in this period. We've done really well in some of them to stay unbeaten. “We have to get back to not conceding goals, which we were doing very well in the eight or nine games prior to this week.” On the Vale defeat, he said: “At 1-1 tonight I thought we were in the game and having the better of it. “We missed a great chance with George Lapslie to go 2-1 up. “There were key times in the game tonight. “We looked pretty comfortable at 1-0 up in the first half. Then Nathan Bishop made a very rare mistake that lets them back in. “Then we were under the cosh a little bit late on in the first half and early in the second half. “We put Oli Hawkins up front and took the initiative and if we get that second goal, you never know happens. “Two minutes before they scored their last one they sliced one onto their own crossbar. “They were the key incidents that meant we didn't get a result tonight.” He added: “All three Port Vale goals came from mistakes. The first one was Nathan Bishop. “The second I think three of them went for the ball and none of them win it. I don't mind all three going for the ball but someone has got to win it. “I don't think Faz Rawson needed to go for it when the other two were challenging. “Then we were a little bit unlucky with the ricochets after that. Bish make a good save and it comes back off, I think, JJ or whatever and he ends up tapping it in.” However, there were plusses for Clough with a full league debut for Keiran Wallace and a first start for James Perch after his fractured skull. “I thought Keiran Wallace did well in midfield and I was pleased with his performance,” he said. “With the run of games we're having, players have to be ready to come in for the odd game. “It was a major plus from the night getting James Perch back on the pitch. He showed his calmness throughout the game from the first few minutes.” "We went over 100 days without losing and now we've lost twice in 4 days. It's an unusual feeling, we don't want to feel it between now and the end of the season." ---------------------- Andy Crosby gives Port Vale verdict as they see off Mansfield 3-1 stokesentinel.co.uk, By Michael Baggaley Andy Crosby was proud of his Port Vale players after they came from behind to keep the pressure on the play-off pack with a 3-1 win at home to Mansfield. Vale are up a place to ninth, still four points off the play-off spots, but have two games in hand. They were stung by Rhys Oates’ 18th-minute opener but levelled through James Wilson on 34 minutes before substitute Kian Harratt pounced to put the game beyond the visitors with goals on 76 and 87. That made it back to back wins having seen off Crawley 4-1 in Burslem on Saturday. Crosby said: “I am delighted, again we responded to conceding the first goal. But I thought the energy, the drive, commitment and the quality we played the game with was a joy. https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/port-vale-mansfield-andy-crosby-6809426 “It was important we built on Saturday. It couldn’t be that one result, we have to string a number of results together. “So, delighted with how the players have taken on board what we have been trying to do and how we have been looking to improve. Credit to every single one of them.” Oates opened the scoring after a slip by Aaron Martin but Crosby was pleased with the way the experienced centre half responded to the mistake. He said: “We knew about the threat of Oates. Errors happen in games, as do moments of quality from the opposition. It is how you respond to them and I thought Aaron Martin was brilliant after the error.” Crosby was pleased with substitute Harratt and also praised Wilson for his all-round game, including his opener when he fired across keeper Nathan Bishop. The assistant boss said the strike partnership with Jamie Proctor worked well. He added: “It was a great run and weight of pass. You have to have a shot and sometimes you get a little bit lucky. The goalkeeper will be disappointed but I thought Willo was immense tonight in terms of his ability to keep running and chasing and then when he does get those moments he has incredible quality. “Then Proccy took a battering but led the line really well and gave us someone to play into and play off. I think both of them have been immense in the last two games.” "Great saves from Stoney (from Lapslie and the defender Nathan Smith). At crucial moments. They were having their first bit of control in the game where they had got us on the back foot and penned back in. Two crucial saves. The second one from Nathan is an incredible reaction from him to push it onto the bar. "There's moments in every game that change the direction of it and that was a key moment and we go on and win the game." ----------------- |
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