Stuart McCall admitted City lacked a cutting edge after they were held to a goalless draw at bottom club Mansfield.

McCall saw his side create good chances early on but felt they did not produce enough in the second half to force a third away win.

The 0-0 draw at Field Mill meant City have lost only one of their last seven League Two outings.

But McCall had banked on a victory after setting a four-point target from this week's away double header, which includes Chesterfield on Saturday.

He said: "If we could have come here and really stamped our authority, as we did in the early part, then we could have gone on and got all three points.

"I'm slightly disappointed but that's probably unfair on Mansfield. They've not conceded a goal in four home games now and also pushed MK Dons all the way.

"They have defended well again and we've never done enough in the attacking third in the second half to merit a victory."

City had begun well as Omar Daley hit the post and Barry Conlon, who started his first game for a month in place of Peter Thorne, twice went close to scoring against his old club.

But they also needed a penalty save from Donovan Ricketts to deny 13-goal Michael Boulding after his younger brother Rory was sent tumbling by David Wetherall.

The City skipper was angry that a spot-kick was awarded and said: "There was a little bit of contact but not enough to knock anybody over. But I suppose it was clever play by the forward.

"What made it doubly annoying was that I got flattened at the other end in their box and the referee gave nothing. I thought that was a stonewall penalty while the other one was touch and go.

"But it was a great save from Donovan. If we'd have lost that game, we would have felt very hard done by."

Alex Rhodes and Mark Bower may not be ready in time for Saturday's game. Eddie Johnson also remains sidelined with his injured back.

McCall, who made three changes against Mansfield, said: "We'll look at what we've got available for Saturday now after another tough 90 minutes on a sapping pitch."

City are still waiting on final confirmation over Willy Topp but he is unlikely to feature straight away because of his lack of match fitness.

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