Win over Reading special for Stags - Clough

Nigel Clough hailed Mansfield's victory against Reading as "a special one" following their recent League One struggles.

A deflected second-half goal from Louis Reed, the Stags' FA Cup match-winner against Premier League side Burnley in February, proved to be too much for Reading at the One Call Stadium on Tuesday.

The victory ended a nine-game winless League One run that stretched back to 17 January and was at odds with the Stags' impressive FA Cup run to the fifth round.

"We haven't won for quite a few weeks when we've deserved to, so it's a special one tonight," Clough told BBC Radio Nottingham.

Mansfield put up a valiant display against Arsenal in one of the highest profile games ever hosted at the One Call Stadium just three days earlier.

They fought back against the Premier League leaders to equalise via Will Evans following Noni Madueke's opener for the Gunners, but Eberechi Eze's sublime strike was enough to see Mikel Arteta's side over the line.

For Clough, the win against Reading was just reward after a frustrating sequence of results - which included him saying "we could have got something against Arsenal".

"It's no more than we deserved for the last few performances," Clough said of the win against the Royals.

"Starting with the point last week against Rotherham, two clean sheets in the league - and yeah, we conceded two against Arsenal which were pretty good goals - that's always going to be the bedrock and foundation that we are building on.

"We just need someone with better finishing and better crossing and that sort of thing, hopefully the confidence will come now."

Despite Reed's goal earning the Stags victory against Reading, it was Tottenham loanee George Abbott who was named as Mansfield's man of the match in what was just his second league start for the club.

Clough said the 20-year-old is "settling in nicely" and is still "building up his minutes" after arriving in February.

"I wish we had him (Abbott) at the start of the season, with a good pre-season and being fully fit," he added.