An opportunistic late goal from Ade Adeyemo, as he pounced on Mansfield goalkeeper Christy Pym’s inability to hold on to a Will Swan shot, was the difference as Crawley ended their seven-match winless run with the narrow victory at the One Call Stadium.

“It’s just ironic that Christy makes a mistake when he has been absolutely immaculate,” Clough said.

“He made two or three brilliant saves then spills the easy one, which cost us the game.

“It’s one of those where you want to get out of the game without losing, just to stop the run of defeats.”

With Mansfield in just their first season back in the third tier for 21 years, Clough says difficult runs were to be expected.

They endured a similarly rough period in November and December when they lost five consecutive league games.

That particular run was brought to an end with a draw at Charlton, which was then followed by four wins in five matches.

“We just have to scrap and fight like we did at Charlton to get points and stop the rot,” Clough said.