Mansfield Town manager Nigel Clough is hoping two draws in four days after three successve defeats will give his players some confidence for Saturday's huge FA Cup fifth round home tie with Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Stags have now not won in nine League One outings but had enough chances to win the two drawn games this week and Clough said: “We are looking forward to Saturday now we have got these two games out of the way.
“When you have lost three on the spin you are not looking forward to playing Arsenal.
“Then we get a couple of draws - and we have played well in more than just patches of those games - and there is an argument to say we could have had the six points from the two games.
Action during the Sky Bet League One match against Rotherham Utd FC at the AESSEAL New York Stadium, 03 March 2026. Photo Chris & Jeanette Holloway / The Bigger Picture.mediaplaceholder image
Action during the Sky Bet League One match against Rotherham Utd FC at the AESSEAL New York Stadium, 03 March 2026. Photo Chris & Jeanette Holloway / The Bigger Picture.media
“Now we have a free hit against Arsenal on Saturday and we will give it absolutely everything and try to cause an upset.”
On tonight's stalemate, he added: “I thought we had the better chances on the night but didn't get a break in the box. We had enough chances and situations to win the game.
“They started better than us. Once we stopped giving the ball away I thought for the rest of the first half we were in control and had a few situations. We grew into the game.
“All that Liam Roberts has had to do is deal with a couple of long range shots.
“Second half they re-organised, made a couple of substitutions and came at us for 10 minutes.
“We had to re-organise as they were on top. But from the hour mark onwards I thought we were in control again and us most likely to score.
“It was two very honest teams battling away in the bottom half of the table.”
On Rotherham's late penalty appeal when the ball clearly struck Frazer Blake-Tracy's arm in the box, he said: “The ball did bounce up and hit his arm. But it was not intentional and I am not sure where we stand on the rules if that should be given or not.”
Stags lost Luke Bolton to injury early on tonight and Clough said: “Luke missed the weekend with his calf but trained yesterday and couldn't feel it at all. So we started him tonight for the fresh legs and the formation and he lasted 10 minutes.
“It's not ideal. He will probably have a scan and we will see how he is.”
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