Mansfield Town '˜lacked cohesion and intensity' in defeat to Nottingham Forest - Paul Raynor

Stags trailed 1-0 at the break following a bit of magic from Jason Cummings.

But they ran out of steam in the closing stages as ruthless Forest bagged three goals in the closing 21 minutes to complete a comprehensive win.

And Raynor feels that three games inside a week against Championship opposition may have been a bridge too far.

“I am disappointed by the performance, we have had two good performances against Championship sides but today was disappointing,” he said.

“We lacked a bit of cohesion and intensity, maybe the two games have taken something out of us. We were certainly down a notch in terms of our pressure with and without the ball.

“We needed to defend better and press better and push Forest into mistakes. It is a bit of kick in the teeth and we have to learn from it.”

And Raynor confirmed that there were still at least five places to play for in Stags’ starting eleven in the season-opener against Crewe.

Mansfield will send teams to Matlock Town and Gainsborough Trinity on Tuesday night as the selection process gets narrowed down.

He added: “There are five or six players pencilled in to start the first game of the season and we need to look at other players.

“We will look at today especially, we got a lesson in one and two touch football. Everyone will have a chance to perform on Tuesday.

“We will pick the bones out of it and watch the video.

“We will take a look at who plays where on Tuesday in the coming days to make sure everyone gets 90 minutes under their belt, and whether one team will be stronger than the other. I imagine, at this stage, that they will both be equal strength.”

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