NEIL MacKenzie was left disappointed Mansfield had not claimed the scalp of one of the better sides in the division, after Mansfield's draw with Torquay.

A draw was a respectable result for the Stags against Paul Buckle's side, who are now nine games unbeaten.

Yet midfielder MacKenzie – recalled to the side through the absence of Matt Somner and Curtis Woodhouse – insisted Mansfield could have gone one better.

"I think there was quite a lot of difference between playing a top-of-the-league team and one near the bottom in this division," said MacKenzie.

"Games against the top eight or nine are a lot harder than playing those at the other end where you expect to win and quite often do.

"But we were disappointed we didn't win the game and in the first half we could have gone two or three goals up.

"Adie Moses then got a header on target and if that had gone in then it would have given us a cushion.

"In the second half they came back into it and we had to deal with that. The conditions were really bad – if anything they got worse.

"But we still had chances then and we were frustrated that we didn't win the game because we more than competed and made them look ordinary at times.

"If they are the third best team in this league then that bodes well for us."

Boss David Holdsworth had challenged MacKenzie to prove his worth ahead of next season as one of several players he has to make a decision on. The midfielder was reasonably content with his performance – and that of his team-mates.

He said: "Overall I have to be pleased, even if I was a bit disappointed with how the game went in the second half.

"The first half was really enjoyable and we played some decent football.

"We showed we can compete against good sides and it was the same when we played against Cambridge."