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[Showaddywaddy]

I thought tonight was another example of just how good we are despite not getting the win. Mullin hardly got a kick and when he did it was a hefty one from Aiden Flint on the half way line (he was still whining to the referee about it before the second half started). Elliot Lee hardly impacted the game and Palmer only started to win a few headers against Cargill after he was booked.

They came for a point and got one, they used every opportunity to eat up time and were happy to let us have the ball. Even though our crossing was generally poor tonight they still seemed to panic a fair amount and it was all very rushed from them. Their style of play reminded me very much of our Conference winning side, smack it forward early win the second ball and only try and play in the final third. With our back line their approach didn’t really get them very far. I thought Cargill did really well and it was the right game to bring him back in. As for Flint, he’s just a different class altogether. Bowery was excellent, I particularly enjoyed it when Mullin shoved the ball past him and tried to do him for pace and it was no contest. MacDonald was solid if not spectacular down the left.

We always look good when we get Reed on the ball a lot and he must have us more touches than anyone else in the first half. Aaron Lewis reminds me of my Sprocker Spaniel, he just never stops and seems to be everywhere at 100mph.

I think their back four could have taken a baseball bat to Akins tonight and the referee would’ve waved play on. DKD just had one of those nights where it didn’t quite come off or he made the wrong choice. Our biggest problem with him though we be retaining his services in January.

Frustrating not to win but we do look the real deal this season and never really look like we are going to lose a game and that’s not a bad trait to have is it.

[adamstag]

I really hope someone asks him why swan didn’t come on, it’s a curious decision by clough at best to bring gale on instead of swan when it was clear they didn’t like being ran at.

In his interview on Radio Nottingham he basically said it was a toss up between the two but Gale got the nod due to his height to help defend set pieces.

Well if so that’s a nonsense decision, the defence never looked troubled whereas we were short upfront. He’s backed the wrong horse on that one for me.

But we could be here in a parallel universe where gale got the winner etc. we still look a quality side.

[Chrisuknottm]

Best midfield in the League, excellent defence, poor strike force..said it before ..we need a striker..Akins hopeless ..Swann not good enough ..who else do we have that’s good enough..answer …nobody…we dominate throughout but can’t finish

You think Akins was "hopeless"?

Thread locked for you mate, you couldn't have been there.

I wouldn't say he was hopeless but as an attacking threat he was nowhere to be seen. If all we want him to do is lay off, pass back and make a lot of effort then he's a nine or ten out of ten but as a threat in the penalty area he's a passenger. The worrying thing is tgat despite our extensive injury list, Oates is the only forward to come back !!!

[stagsfan6493]

Games like tonight show how much we’re missing Oates and Quinn

[MTFCMusings]

I really hope someone asks him why swan didn’t come on, it’s a curious decision by clough at best to bring gale on instead of swan when it was clear they didn’t like being ran at.

In his interview on Radio Nottingham he basically said it was a toss up between the two but Gale got the nod due to his height to help defend set pieces.

Well if so that’s a nonsense decision, the defence never looked troubled whereas we were short upfront. He’s backed the wrong horse on that one for me.

But we could be here in a parallel universe where gale got the winner etc. we still look a quality side.

Apart from the three free headers they missed from set pieces.

[DoomMerchant]

What can we conclude from that?

The midfield clicked again; creating multiple chances.
The defence looked pretty rock solid against an attack containing the divisions best centre forward (and pee-poor Palmo).
Christy had one routine stop to make.
The forwards buzzed about, held the ball up lovely and linked well with the midfield.

However, more points agonisingly dropped from a plethora of missed opportunities.

I think we're going to have to accept that we have a very decent footballing team that's going to have to create a shed load to win games. Incredibly frustrating as that is, we aren't just going to be able to pick a finisher off of the shelf. We'll have to just do our bit to get behind the best footballing Stags team in years.

[Oladamber66]

We totally bossed the first half .... Reed is just superb ...they were poor nothing special .... but ! We Just cant put it in the net..... got to agree Swan should have come on.... but look at the positives ....its a point ..a big crowd ..still in the mix and still unbeaten ...

[yorkshire stag]

so missed Oates tonight

[georgefostersbeard]

A little shout out for McDonald who I thought had his best game for us.

[MTFCMusings]

I think it’s a valid concern about Akins needing to have a goal threat alongside him. An incredible stat about him, he’s gone 852 league minutes without forcing the goalkeeper into a save.

[stagmanrob]

If you view Akins as what he is and has always consistently been during his career - i.e. a target man who does the dog work for others, then you can never call him hopeless.

Thought he never put a foot wrong tonight and gave Wrexham a torrid time. We just needed someone playing off of his excellent link up play to make the difference.

Hopefully we do get to see more of Swan on Saturday with him not playing tonight. He certainly has the potential for me to be what we are missing at the minute, he just lacks the confidence he had at times last season.

[Rob]

A little shout out for McDonald who I thought had his best game for us.

The whole back 4 were terrific. Cargill was my MOM. Our forward players simply didn't do the business when it mattered but overall we were excellent against a one dimensional hoof it side. Ref was crap.

[daddycool]

Some really good complimentary comments on the Wrexham site . One caught my eye .if they had a couple of strikers they would easily be the best team in the league

[Dan]

Surprised we've not seen Swan

I would've put him on for Akins for the last 20 mins.

[Dan]

A little shout out for McDonald who I thought had his best game for us.

I'm so glad you've said that because I actually thought he shaded man of the match. He didn't put a foot wrong and he also kept Mullin quiet when he needed to as well. Considering the unjust stick he gets on here at times I thought he was brilliant tonight.

I would've given everyone at least an 8 tonight with a few 9's spread around the back 4 and Clarke (who was my MOTM until he went off).

[diablo]

Best midfield in the League, excellent defence, poor strike force..said it before ..we need a striker..Akins hopeless ..Swann not good enough ..who else do we have that’s good enough..answer …nobody…we dominate throughout but can’t finish

Akins hopeless

Were you tonight's ref?

He is supposed to be first and foremost a striker...but he rarely strikes..he has no pace so rarely evades his marker..I lost count of the number of times he lost the ball this evening...I'm not criticising his work rate but rather the end product..we should have blown Wrexham away but didn't..as for the Ref he was typical of current League officials who seem to be more interested in letting the game flow rather than applying the Laws of the game...also playing one striker up front at home didn't help and not bringing Swan on was imo a questionable decision by the Manager

[PEAR CIDER]

He lost the ball off bad touches 4 times, he also won it back around 8....

[stagmanrob]

The amount of times Akins first touch was spot on, he held the ball up, and laid it off to set up an attack far outweighed any instances where he lost the ball.

I'd go as far as to say everything that we did in the game that was good and led to dangerous situations and/or chances, came through Akins' excellent hold up play ; particularly more so in the first half.

Sometimes people are so blinkered when they have it in for a player that they only wish to comment on things they have done wrong rather than give them deserved praise.

[zod]

Did the police arrest their defender for nicking Akins shirt?
He had more of it in his hands for 90 minutes.

[Gruff]

Apart from the lack of a goal, that was a fantastic performance. We are playing some quality football, and when you think back to where we were around 3+ years, even including Flitcroft & Evans, the style of play we are seeing now is such a high quality it beggars belief.

One little snippet I did pick up from tonight's game, was the developing similarity between DKD making space/time for himself, and the way that Quinn does the same thing. He still has some things to learn about playing the right ball at the right time, but his attacking instincts and his current scoring record, probably makes him slightly over-confident at the moment.

I thought Jordan Bowery was spectacularly good tonight. Against one of the deadliest strike-forces in the league, he more than held his own and certainly deserves a place in the team on merit. Callum Johnson is going to have to fight for his place on that performance.

Cargill & Flint were solid. Hard to believe we're missing somebody as good as Kilgour. MacDonald played well tonight and didn't make too many rash challenges, which I think is his achilles heel if I'm honest.

Reed, Maris, Clarke & Lewis were absolutely dominant, and Akins did everything we could have wanted as a hold-up man for the midfield and DKD. Think Akins got a rough deal from the ref tonight and had one of their centre backs got booked earlier we might well have seen him get more space and offered more up front.

Absolutely love this team. I think we're missing Oates and somehow need to squeeze some game time into Gale and Swan to get them the minutes and the confidence.... but who do you leave out? Would like to think that the EFL trophy will give us an opportunity to rest a few key players, because the games are coming thick and fast, and some of these guys deserve a rest.

More club records for Mr Clough & Mansfield Town... I'd extend his contract now. I think Bradford might be on the look out for a new manager.

[geoffhill]

Really good game we payed very well.As one of Bowerys biggest critics I thought he had his best game.Oates was inter viewed in the 1861 suite after the game and hopes to be fit in 4-6 weeks.He will make a big difference.Regarding our unbeaten run I think Portsmouth are unbeaten so far as well.

[Conker]

I’m still annoyed with that last night, we’ve got to be better in front of goal or we will draw our way to another play-off finish. So frustating considering the performance.

You got the feeling if we had a Mullin in our squad we’d have won that game by half time.

[PostmanPat]

A striker away from competing, yes we played well but far too many draws happening.

[Chrisuknottm]

I’m still annoyed with that last night, we’ve got to be better in front of goal or we will draw our way to another play-off finish. So frustating considering the performance.

You got the feeling if we had a Mullin in our squad we’d have won that game by half time.

Totally agree with this. It drives me absolutely crazy that we don't have a goalscoring centre forward at the tip of our attacking play.

[daddycool]

So called fans that sit behind me just wait for Akins to make a mistake so they can vent some rage . If that fails the next one is moaning why Clough sit in the dugout most of the time .