Following their 3-0 away victory at Accrington Stanley on Saturday, Mansfield Town manager Nigel Clough is pleased that his team is the last of the 72 EFL teams to be unbeaten in both the league and cup this season. They are now third in the standings.
Despite a devastating injury list, that made it nine games without a loss. Clough commented: “It shows we have a certain amount of resilience because we’ve fallen down in a couple of those games and battled back for draws or wins, which is a good indication. Really, we ought to have had greater success on the road. But it’s still very early in the process.
The group is better prepared to handle it given the players who have been absent, so it is a good platform for moving forward.In my opinion, Colchester will test us more than any other game thus far.They will be substantially different from the final contest of the previous year. They managed to avoid being demoted, but they will have to perform far better this time around.
They made significant investments in January and made some more in the summer.
“They just won at home against Tranmere and put up a fantastic performance; they had 27 shots on Saturday. They will differ from the proposal from a few months ago.
Clough said: “It was crucial to achieve that first away win of the season on Saturday. Stags’ victory at Accrington was their first in 15 league meetings with Stanley. Although we still have room to grow in some areas, it was unquestionably our greatest performance on the road.
“The goals, two from individual brilliance and one superb team goal in the middle, clearly make it a stand-out win.
“We needed that away victory as soon as possible, especially since the upcoming two of three games are both on the road, at Gillingham and Colchester. We travel there with a little more assurance.
Prior to Colchester, Stags have four new injury concerns, while Callum Johnson’s return from injury is a possibility.
Jordan Bowery (groin) and Calum Macdonald (ankle) won’t begin training until later in the week, according to Clough.
And with a late tackle, Ollie Clarke was struck in the shin.
“Probably the worst of the four was George Maris, who hurt himself while committing the foul and receiving a booking since he isn’t very skilled at tackling. He caught his knee, and as a precaution, we should probably scan it. We’ll watch to see whether it calms down.However, Callum Johnson is scheduled to train this week and will be benched if we lose. We shall err on the side of caution with a hamstring injury. He is the final close friend because the other six are all more long-term.
Tomorrow (Wednesday), Stags will face NottsCounty in a reserve game, and Clough stated: “It will be primarily the U19s who are healthy. John-Joe O’Toole, George Williams, and George Cooper all need a game. Following that, I’m unsure of who I can trust.