Northampton boss Wilder felt Cobblers were hard done to by decisions as well

Stags led 2-0 but felt hard done to as referee Darren Handley sent off Jamie McGuire for a second bookable offence and then gave the Cobblers a contentious penalty that got them back into the game.

Click HERE to read Mansfield boss Adam Murray’s comments

However, ex-Alfreton Town boss Wilder felt McGuire might have seen red for the first booking which he saw as an elbow and he also felt that sub Ricky Holmes’ shot that came back down off the bar was over the line.

“I don’t see a lot in the decisions,” he said. “Ricky Holmes scored a goal today that was over the line and not given.

“The boy (McGuire) was a bit fortunate he wasn’t sent off for the elbow. He ran a tightrope from there on in.

“I didn’t think the free kick for their second goal was a foul either. But these things happen.”

Stags looked set to end Northampton’s unbeaten League run of 16 games until the fightback and Wilder said: “We had a proud old record going for us, not getting beaten since the Portsmouth game and today the boys, backed by an unbelievable support, refused to be beaten.

“We were a little bit disappointed not to have won it, but after their second goal went in after 16 minutes, we can take it as a positive to get a point out of the game.

“I expect centre halves to go in and make headers in that position but he’s (Matt Green) had two free headers.

“We can nit-pick but they were two great balls in that they stuck on the wind.”

Wilder felt his side handled Stags’ aggressive, direct game well.

“We knew what to expect and I have no issues with it as long as it stays within the boundaries,” he said.

“It was a tough old game and they put it into our box with a bit of quality and we couldn’t handle it.

“They were snapping at people and winning tackles and headers and had something to hang on to.

“We were always making the substitutions at half-time though and we were always going to do better than we had in the first half regardless (of the red card).”

Now the Cobblers can be promoted next weekend and he ended by saying: “It’s a great incentive for everyone to fill that ground out. With what we’ve been through this season, on game 40 we have an opportunity to stick a little ‘P’ next to our name.

“We will keep going, it’s been a great effort today and all season, overcoming adversity.

“Maybe I will pick the right team next week and we can have a really good day that can live on in the memory for a long time.”