Nigel Clough said Mansfield’s hard-earned 1-0 home win over bottom club Forest Green was one of the most important results of their season as they leapt back into the top three.
Tom Nichols’ 20th-minute header earned stuttering Stags a first win in four games to reignite their promotion dream, despite their injury problems, and wiped away memories of Saturday’s home hammering by Crawley.
“It was one of the most important results of the season, especially with seven defenders out at the start of the game,” said Clough.
“To keep a clean sheet with two centre forwards in the back four was a tremendous effort by everybody.
“Saturday was a one-off and bad timing to have it at this particular stage of the season, but everybody was back on it tonight. The intensity was magnificent.
“It was a reaction to Saturday when we were all hurting after the game.”
Rovers defended well but Nichols broke the deadlock when he was picked out at the back post by Hiram Boateng’s cross and managed to loop a header over goalkeeper Vicente Reyes.
For much of the game it was all Mansfield, but home keeper Christy Pym did have to claw a Charlie McCann free-kick from under his crossbar just before half-time and just before the end made a great double save to deny Emmanuel Osadebe and Kyle McAllister after a Rovers break.
“You’re always worried at 1-0 and Christy Pym has had to come up with two magnificent saves,” said Clough.
“I think it’s the most difficult thing for a goalie when you have had nothing or very little to do for 88 minutes.”
Rovers boss Steve Cotterill was delighted with his side’s showing, despite a fifth defeat in six outings.
“I thought we were excellent tonight against a team that are probably going to be up there and get promoted,” he said.
“We definitely played well enough to get at the minimum a draw tonight.
“The season has been tough. But, given the start with this group of lads, I think they’ve come a long way in a short space of time and were excellent tonight.
“We wouldn’t have been able to come here and do this tonight a couple months ago when we got beaten 4-0 at home by them.
“There was no chance of that happening tonight.”
On the goal, Cotterill added: “I think Vinny was done by the flight of the ball. I don’t know if the wind has played a little part in that, slowed it up in the air and he’s not quite taken it.
“But at the end of the day Vinnie’s been magnificent for us and he’s won us games this season, and between now and the end of the season he’ll do the same again.”
Neymar suffers fresh injury blow
Neymar sustained a new injury as he was forced off during Al-Hilal's AFC Champions League Elite win over Esteghlal.
Aleksandar Mitrovic plundered a hat-trick on Monday to seal a 3-0 win.
But Al-Hilal's victory was soured by an injury to Neymar, who had to make way just 29 minutes after he came on as a second-half substitute.
The Brazilian, who has just returned from over a year out of action following a serious knee injury, was forced off with what appeared to be a thigh issue.
Indeed, Monday's appearance was only the 32-year-old's second for Al-Hilal since his comeback.
He has featured just seven times for the Saudi Pro League champions in all competitions since his big-money move from Paris Saint-Germain in 2023.
Rodgers delighted as Celtic rout Aberdeen in semi-final
Celtic booked their place in the Scottish League Cup final after hammering Aberdeen 6-0 at Hampden Park on Saturday.
The 21-time winners of the tournament were inspired by a Daizen Maeda hat-trick in a near-perfect performance against the Scottish Premiership's second-placed side.
Manager Brendan Rodgers was delighted with the result and performance from his side.
"It was a testament to our players and the demands they have. They play every week in big games. We have to manage this group through every game," he told Premier Sports.
"It was up to us to decide the game and the players did that. They were brilliant today. We were more aggressive in the second half.
"Aberdeen have had an excellent season, they will continue to work well I'm sure."
The result was Aberdeen's first defeat in 17 matches in all competitions this season, with a 2-2 draw at Celtic Park last month the only time they had previously failed to win.
Cameron Carter-Vickers got the scoring under way with a header 29 minutes in, before the brilliant Maeda sat down goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov to set up Kyogo Furuhashi for a second three minutes later.
Maeda then got in on the act himself on 40 minutes before the game briefly descended into farce on the stroke of half-time, with Rodgers shown a yellow card for kicking away a ball that had gone out before slipping over.
"To be fair, I was raging because we had given the ball away," he said.
"I have my moments, like every manager. It was just the game, even though we were comfortable at 3-0.
"It was a deserved yellow card. The speed of the ball [was the issue]. I just wanted to keep the tempo of the game."
Celtic and Maeda picked up where they left off in the second half to make it 4-0 in the 50th minute before Nicolas Kuhn hammered in a fifth on the hour.
The rout was complete when Maeda wrapped up his hat-trick as he finished off a flowing attacking move with five minutes to go.
After the match, Rodgers continued to be effusive about his team, who will face either Rangers or Motherwell in the final.
"An outstanding team performance. You come up against a team that has been so, so good. We knew it would be a challenge," he told BBC Scotland.
"We had to bring our A-game and the players did that, in particular during the second half.
"We were ruthless. We worked the ball really well to create the space and made good runs.
"It's a beautiful pitch here at Hampden. It's perfect for the football we want to play."
Al-Nassr 1-1 Al-Hilal: Milinkovic-Savic leveller keeps champions unbeaten
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic preserved Al-Hilal's unbeaten start to the Saudi Pro League season as his header earned the defending champions a 1-1 draw against Al-Nassr on Friday.
Al-Hilal dropped their first points of the season having won their first eight games, but remained at the summit of the standings, moving one point clear of Al-Ittihad.
Al-Nassr found themselves in front inside two minutes when Otavio's clipped ball found Talisca, who took a touch before firing the ball beyond Yassine Bounou.
The first half saw clear-cut chances hard to come by, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Talisca and Mohamed Simakan seeing their efforts unable to trouble visiting goalkeeper Bounou.
Al-Hilal, who had scored 23 goals in their first eight games, came closest to an equaliser after the break when Salem Al Dawsari struck the woodwork.
But the leveller came in the 77th minute when a free-flowing move ended with Milinkovic-Savic heading the ball in off the post after being picked out by Renan Lodi's cross.
Both sides looked to find a winner in the closing stages, with Ali Lajami coming the closest for Al-Nassr, but the points were shared at the Al Awal Park at King Saud University.
Data Debrief: Champions end Ronaldo streak
Ronaldo's run of four straight games with a goal came to an end against Al-Hilal, though he was Al-Nassr's most potent attacking threat during the encounter.
The Portugal captain registered a team-high 0.37 expected goals (xG) to Al-Nassr's 0.9 total, while also having the joint-most touches in the opposition box (five - level with Otavio).
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
