Nigel Clough hails ‘incredible’ Mansfield after reaching play-off final

Mansfield boss Nigel Clough hailed the “incredible” achievement of reaching the League Two play-off final after his side’s 3-1 aggregate win over Northampton.

The Stags carried a 2-1 lead from the first leg and then built on that when Stephen McLaughlin fired home 31 minutes into Wednesday’s return game at Sixfields.

A gritty and determined defensive effort then saw off heavy Northampton pressure in the second half and secured Mansfield’s place at Wembley.

Clough said: “It took a lot of hard work but I thought it was an incredible effort from the players over the two legs and over the last eight or nine months.

“I thought we were very, very good this evening in denying the opposition too many opportunities – it was properly one of our best defensive performances all season, certainly to keep a clean sheet.

“It all started at the front and I thought Jordan (Bowery) and Lucas (Akins) did their defensive duties and the team was outstanding in all areas.

“We were at our lowest ebb when we came here (Sixfields) earlier in the season and we were down and out but we put in a good performance in the next game and then everything picked up from there.

“When you are down at the bottom after a third of the season and then you go and reach Wembley, the players and staff deserve a huge amount of credit to turn it around.

“We still have a job to do at Wembley but it’s an incredible achievement.”

Northampton manager Jon Brady was happy enough with his side’s performance but felt aggrieved by some key refereeing decisions, particularly two penalty shouts either side of half-time.

He said: “I felt we played really well tonight and we dominated most of the game but our best chance probably came with Josh Eppiah’ss header in the first