'We paid the price' - Doncaster Rovers boss Grant McCann rues missed chance after loss to Mansfield Town
Grant McCann has reflected on Doncaster Rovers’ loss to Mansfield Town
Doncaster Rovers manager Grant McCann was left to rue a Brandon Hanlan miss following his side’s 2-1 defeat to Mansfield Town.
Rhys Oates fired the Stags ahead and the goal seemingly lit a fire in Rovers. Jack Senior put the visitors back on level terms but after Hanlan somehow missed from eight yards out after 59 minutes, Mansfield resumed domination and won it with a training-ground free-kick from Louis Reed.
Grant McCann reflects
McCann said: “It was cagey early on and there weren’t many chances in the first half. We conceded a goal from a sloppy restart when we didn’t track the run.
“Second half saw a brilliant response and it was good to see Jack score. But then the glaring miss probably changed the game. Everyone was just expecting the net to bulge. How it’s gone past the post I don’t know.
“If we had scored that I think we’d have comfortably won. Mansfield got their tails up from that point and we conceded from a free-kick from a cutback to the edge of the box, which was poor.
“We are disappointed as I felt we deserved at least a point today. We have created the best chance of the second half and missed it.
“We played a team here that is probably fancied to be in the top six given the money they have spent in the summer. But we have matched them and should have gone 2-1 up, but we didn’t and we paid the price.”
Nigel Clough’s verdict
Mansfield boss Nigel Clough said: “We scored a good goal – and a simple goal. I thought we should have then done more in the last 10-15 minutes of the first half to get a second goal when we were on top.
“After they scored we had to hang in there and make sure we didn’t concede a second. But after 60-65 minutes the game turned and we had some good chances.”
Doncaster will return to League One action against Barnsley next Saturday (August 22).