Poor finishing to blame says Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough as his nine goal midweek stars fail at Walsall

Stags missed the chance to go top with leaders Stockport County losing and Clough said: “Missed chances and a soft second goal cost us the game,” he said.

“There is an argument to say we had better chances than we did on Tuesday night, the quality of them, but our finishing was nowhere near as good as it was on Tuesday night.

“We didn't hit the target enough and we were made to pay for it.

“You would have fancied Will Swan to tuck one of his chances away today all day long.”

VAR might have given Stags a goal that may have been missed by the officials today had it been in operation at this level.

“We also think one did go over the line – it was difficult for the assistant to see,” said Clough.

“I think it's fair to say it wasn't our day in the penalty areas.

“The assistant was slightly unsighted but the lads at the time were adamant it was half a yard over the line which, if we have the technology that I think they even have in the Championship, maybe we would have got the goal.

“They scored from two corners today, we were quite comfortable from open play. But set plays are a massive part of the game and we haven't dealt with two of them.

“I didn't expect us to lose. We have had two games in which the finishing has been exemplary to score 13 goals. We created 10-12 chances today and only scored the one goal.”

He added: “I changed my mind on starting George Williams today and I got that one wrong – he was fresh and should have started.

“Walsall were up for it today and that's something you have to learn to deal with, especially with the results we have had – everyone is talking about the nine. And I do think we dealt with it for large periods.”