Mansfield manager Nigel Clough was delighted to see his side continue their unbeaten start to the Sky Bet League Two season after a 2-0 home victory over Newport.
A Davis Keillor-Dunn brace secured the Stags their fifth straight win during an unbeaten run which has stretched to 17 league matches.
Mansfield climbed to second in the table after the result, which a beaming Clough said: “To still be unbeaten is brilliant. That is 17 now – or 18 if you include last season.
“That is five wins in a row and we have to do that if you’re going to keep pace with the other sides up there you have to keep churning out the wins.
“It was a good solid three points and a clean sheet. These are the ones that are very important come the end of the season – and it wasn’t straightforward today.
“The Rhys Oates penalty miss was a huge point in the game as if we’d got the 2-0 lead after half an hour we’d maybe go on and win a bit more comfortably.
“They came back out for the second half and changed their tactics. They came at us rather than sitting back and they had a couple of moments in the second half as did we. So I was most pleased with the clean sheet.”
Keillor-Dunn gave Stags the ideal start as he swept home a loose ball in the box after just four minutes as the visitors struggled to clear an Oates cross.
Oates then won and missed a penalty in the 31st minute. Brought down by Scot Bennett, Oates’ low central spot-kick was saved by Nick Townsend.
But Townsend was beaten again after 51 minutes as Keillor-Dunn tucked away a cutting pass from George Maris and had several chances to complete a hat-trick.
The visitors did come into the game more after the break following a one-sided first half, but Stags defended superbly when needed.
Newport boss Graham Coughlan said: “The better team won. We don’t have any arguments with that. Fair play to them – we weren’t very good.
“We were poor with the ball and didn’t ask enough questions. We got a little bit of momentum in the second half, having changed our system a bit. That was the time we needed to score a goal and we didn’t.
“Probably the most disappointing thing is that we had the ball for both of their goals. We had good possession, but gave it away and turned it over too easily and quickly.
“When you do that against good teams you get punished – and we did get punished.
“I would have liked to see us pick up a goal and make it a nervy last 15-20 minutes. It might have been a different last part of the season.”
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the winner as Al-Qadsiah inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Friday to end their 21-match unbeaten run.
Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh league goal of the season put Al-Nassr ahead, but Al-Qadsiah replied swiftly through Julian Quinones before Aubameyang struck the decisive blow.
The hosts drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Ronaldo slotted home after Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels had spilled a routine catch from Talisca's cross.
However, Al-Nassr's joy was short-lived when Quinones brought down Turki Al Ammar's delivery five minutes later, with the Mexcio winger firing past Bento to level the scores.
Quinones also played a part in the winning goal after brilliantly turning the ball back across goal from Nahitan Nandez's search pass to tee up a simple finish for Aubameyang.
The result sees Al-Qadsiah move level on 22 points with third-placed Al-Nassr, with Al-Shabab also level with them.
Stefano Pioli's Al-Nassr are six points adrift of defending champions and leaders Al-Hilal, who also have a game in hand.
Vlahovic out of Juventus clash with Milan
Dusan Vlahovic will miss Juventus' trip to Milan in Serie A this weekend and is also a doubt for the Champions League game at Aston Villa, head coach Thiago Motta has confirmed.
Vlahovic returned from the international break with a muscle problem in his left thigh, and the manager, after he confirmed the Serbian's absence for Saturday's game at San Siro, was asked about his chances of playing on Wednesday at Villa Park.
"I don't know. He definitely won't be there tomorrow. We hope to have him back as soon as possible," Motta told a press conference on Friday.
"Injuries are part of football. Now it's Vlahovic's turn, but we'll keep playing with the same principles, attacking and defending together."
Vlahovic is the latest of Motta's injury problems at Juventus. Argentine winger Nicolas Gonzalez missed the last six league games and is still unavailable, while Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik is a long-term absentee.
Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz will also miss the game with Milan and defender Juan Cabal recently suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury, the same issue which will keep fellow defender Gleison Bremer out for the rest of the season.
"I'm really disappointed for Cabal because, like Bremer, he'll be out for a long time," Motta said.
"This is another reason to push ourselves, to commit that bit more so that these absences don't weigh too heavily."
Juventus go into the game as the only unbeaten side in Serie A but find themselves sixth in the standings in what is so far a very tight title race, with just two points separating Motta's side from leaders Napoli.
"It's very balanced and this is good for both us and the public," Motta said.
"We must all try to continue like this. We have to try to get as many positive results as possible."
Milan are one place behind Juve but six points off Motta's side.
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