Clough proud of team as Mansfield bounce back

Nigel Clough expressed his pride as Mansfield returned to winning ways with a 2-1 victory at Salford.

After suffering three successive defeats in three cup competitions, the Stags responded to move into third place in League Two.

First-half strikes from Jordan Bowery and Davis Keillor-Dunn ensured Mansfield secured a fourth league win in a row on their return to fourth tier action.

Matt Smith, League Two’s top scorer and October player of the month, levelled for Salford after Bowery’s early opener with his 13th goal of the season.

But Keillor-Dunn’s volley before the interval regained the visitors’ advantage and ultimately proved to be the decider.

In the process, Mansfield preserved their impressive league record along with Portsmouth as the only EFL sides yet to be defeated this campaign.

“We’re very proud to be 16 games unbeaten,” said Stags boss Clough.

“That’s over a third of the season and a long time, so I’m very pleased and it’s brilliant to send the supporters home happy.

“I said to the lads, ‘there’s not many clubs you’ll play for in your career on a dark, cold November afternoon where a sell-out away end will give us that sort of backing’.

“And it’s about time we won here as well; it was a different performance from what we’ve had for the majority of the season.

“I thought we dealt with their threats and we looked a threat ourselves on the break.

“We scored two very good goals and getting back in front before half-time was very important.

“The word today was ‘character’. In difficult conditions where we didn’t have as much control as we usually do, we showed other qualities that we needed.”

It was a frustrating afternoon for Salford, whose five-match unbeaten run in all competitions was brought to an end.

“It’s a really strange one to take,” said Ammies boss Neil Wood.

“The result is what people will look at and it’s disappointing, but I think we can be pleased with the overall team performance and take confidence from that.

“We played well, dominated for large periods of the game and were miles better in what we’ve been working on.

“We could have been a bit more clinical in the final third but it’s a hard one, we controlled the game and Mansfield were a little fortunate.

“I felt we did enough to get back into the game. We had some clear-cut chances, but their keeper made some great saves and kept them in it.

“It’s frustrating, some teams will come and camp in and play on the counterattack.

“So, when we’re trying to break teams down, it’s the hardest thing to do in football. We found that in the second half especially.”