Mansfield's unbeaten run ends in 'ridiculous' way
Mansfield Town are 12th in the League One table after 29 games
- Published
Boss Nigel Clough says his Mansfield Town side let their nine-game unbeaten run come to a "ridiculous" end against Peterborough United.
The defeat was the League One club's first of 2026, with the fine form of recent weeks including an FA Cup win at Sheffield United that set them up for Saturday's tie against Premier League side Burnley.
Clough was critical of a "wasteful" first half against Posh on Tuesday, and admits Peterborough's response in a game they won 2-1 was something he "saw coming at half-time".
"For all the good football and everything, there is no point to it when you give two goals away like we did," Clough told BBC Radio Nottingham.
"We could probably argue that it was the best performance within that [unbeaten] run. And what a ridiculous way to lose that run."
Five successive wins across December and January was followed by a run of four draws, which included back-to-back stalemates at home in recent weeks.
"The last couple, according to everyone, were boring nil-nils and I'd much rather have had that, with a point and clean sheet," Clough said.
Clough, a former England striker who played upfront for Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Manchester City, said his players failed to grasp what was needed to score in damp, slick conditions on Tuesday night.
It was not until 20-year-old Tottenham loanee George Abbott came off the bench to find the target on his Stags debut that Clough had someone to praise for being clinical.
"In the conditions, even when you would be playing as a child at 12 of 13, your coach would say 'it's not very nice tonight and it's wet, so hit the target. Hit it low and hard'." Clough explained.
"And in the first half we just leaned back and hit three or four shots over the bar. It's a lack of concentration to do the right thing."
It was a performance and defeat that Clough quickly admitted will impact his side as they travel to Burnley in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
"It'll be a different mood going into it because of the disappointment," he said.
