Burton boss Gary Bowyer hails Charlie Webster after double downs Mansfield

Webster opened the scoring midway through the first half with a searing, dipping 25-yard effort and his low, curling effort five minutes after the break had Albion firmly in control.

“The movement and technique for his first goal is outstanding,” Bowyer said.

“He has got that in him. He has done a lot of work pre-season on his shooting and you can see it pay off.”

The Burton head coach added: “It was a great time to get the second goal.

“Mansfield are a good team and they have a lot of experience. A lot more than we have out there, but what we have got this season so far is a lot of energy, a lot of attitude about us and we certainly showed that today.”

Mansfield gave themselves a lifeline with just under 20 minutes to go when Baily Cargill headed home and Bowyer was pleased with how his team dug in.

“I was really pleased with how we suffered,” he said. “At times when we went 2-0 up we sat a bit too deep, but I love the way that they suffered together and we will need that throughout the course of the season, but there are a huge amount of positives to take from that.”

For former Burton boss Nigel Clough it was defeat on his return to the Pirelli Stadium, but he took plenty of positives from the game as he looked to bed a host of new signings into his Stags side.

“I thought there was nothing in the game apart from the finishing,” Clough said.

“We have had the best two chances of the game, in the first and last minute, and in between they have stuck two goals in, both from 25 yards, two brilliant finishes which have won the game.”

Mansfield could have been ahead inside thirty seconds, but Will Evans could not convert from eight yards and substitute George Maris headed narrowly over at the death.

“We take a lot of positives and that is what we are looking for,” Clough added.

“We didn’t want to lose the game today, obviously, but we are looking for positives to take us into the next nine months and we saw a lot of encouragement today.

“Six or seven new signings in there today and one or two still getting up to speed, but we are very pleased with the majority of what we saw.”