Delighted Matt Gray admitted he would have bitten your hand off to be in the League Two play-offs at this stage of the season after his side’s 2-0 win over Mansfield.

Sutton jumped into seventh thanks to Louis John’s opener and Omar Bugiel’s stunning second-half strike at Gander Green Lane.

Most importantly the hosts bounced back from their 4-1 defeat to Leyton Orient on Saturday.

“We managed to keep the nucleus of the squad that I wanted,” reflected Gray, who led the side to the Football League for the first time in their 123-year history last term.

“We recruited really well with the five or six that we added.

“We’re looking to keep that hunger and that desire within the squad.

“We’ll keep trying to put as many points on the board as quickly as we can. As soon as we get there we’ll see where we are.”

On the game Gray added: “I’m really pleased to bounce back after Saturday.

“The scoreline flattered them. It looked like a hammering and it wasn’t.

“We bounced back really well when we needed to last season in the Conference and we’re pleased to do that again.”

Bugiel’s goal was his first in the league since the opening day. It has been a stop-start season for the Lebanon striker with international duty and quarantine periods.

But he returned with a super strike to end any hopes of a Stags’ fightback.

After seeing his side’s five-game winning streak in all competitions ended, Nigel Clough said: “I wasn’t too disappointed, I’m obviously disappointed with the result.

“I thought we had more than enough situations tonight to get a goal.

“We’ve picked the ball out of the net twice and cleared one off the line, but apart from that we haven’t had that much to do.

“I thought at 1-0 if we could get a goal at any stage then we could come away with a point.

“We didn’t convert any chances and that’s what happens when you’re missing your two best goalscorers.

“They’re a physical side and we said not to give away free-kicks and we gave two away in the first few minutes.

“We wanted to stick with the same team, but they weren’t at it. Stephen Quinn was injured so I had to bring him off at half-time.

“But if you change it and we lose you ask ‘why didn’t you stick with the same?’”