Frustrated Nigel Clough wants to see Mansfield “get a break” following their 1-0 defeat against Northampton.
Sam Hoskins fired a 20th-minute penalty wide after Christy Pym had flattened Liam Shaw.
Cameron McGeehan headed home Mitch Pinnock’s corner to put the visitors ahead after 55 minutes.
Jordan Rhodes was inches away from equalising with a header, before he was denied by a brilliant goal-line clearance from Jordan Willis with two minutes to go.
The Stags have now lost six games in a row in all competitions.
“I thought from the point of their goal we were excellent and showed good character,” said Clough. “We talked about needing to step up if the worst happened and we did that. We couldn’t have done any more.
“The players can’t give any more than they did tonight. It is another game where we have conceded from a set-piece which is always disappointing.
“With the situations and chances we had tonight, we are entitled to get a goal.
“I just don’t know when we are going to get a break. It felt like an improvement, especially late on.
“We were a bit low on confidence and edgy in the first half. With the situations we had we deserved a goal at least.
“The first of Jordan Rhodes’ chances is his bread and butter, he has made a career on that. I think everyone in the ground is expecting it to hit the back of the net, that’s the way it’s going.
“The ball is bobbling in and around the opposition six-yard box and not dropping to anybody, I’m not sure what else we can do.”
Northampton manager Kevin Nolan felt his side had stood up to a tough test.
“Six points in the last two games is a fantastic achievement by all the lads,” he said.
“We are in and around there and there are 16 games to go, it’s a third of the league still to go.
“We stood up to the barrage. Mansfield are big lads and were putting plenty of balls in the box.
“We could have made it a lot easier for ourselves. We put ourselves under pressure at times with the ball but that is where we are at, anxiety can creep in when you are 1-0 up.
“It is a fantastic win, I love clean sheets and I love 1-0 wins as well.
“The pleasing thing is the reaction of the players. We missed the penalty but we reacted the right way.
“They were very calm and collected. We lost a couple of players from last week but the players who came in took their chances.
“We are trying to build a squad who all believe in each other and help each other.”
