Nigel Clough: Mansfield Town boss says a result is needed to remedy ‘anger’ of Northampton loss

Clough was left exasperated by the chances his side wasted as they slumped to their first League One defeat in six games.

The Stags had taken the lead through Rhys Oates but conceded two second-half goals as Northampton fought back to end a three-match losing run.

With Mansfield now facing five teams inside the top 10 over their next five league games, Clough admits the Stags will not be able to easily forget the pain of that defeat.

“That is why it hurt us even more at Northampton – we should have won the game on the amount of possession and chances that we had – because the run is so difficult that we have coming up now,” he added.

“When you are going to Wimbledon and going to Cardiff, and to Accrington in the cup, and also have Huddersfield, Bolton and Stockport, they will be big, big tests for us.

“And I think we will know a little bit more about ourselves, certainly after those games.”

Mansfield are ninth in League One after 15 games, equal on points with 10th-placed Huddersfield who they host on Saturday (15:00 GMT).