Graphic: Bill Edgar's tactical analysis

Having boasted beforehand of their greater capacity for drink, Middlesbrough duly crashed a Stag party. However, contrary to cynical predictions, they were not the ones left naked and tied to a lamppost, so to speak.

A tortuous journey south, buffeted by gales that left their route peppered with overturned lorries, prepared them for a turbulent afternoon in the Nottinghamshire coalfields. It was one that they navigated safely, with the odd mishap induced by opponents who belied their precarious position as the second-worst side in the Football League to ensure their pride, if not their continued participation in the competition, remained intact.

A club riven by civil war, Mansfield Town boast only one home win since mid-November, but they ceased internal hostilities to keep the result in doubt until three minutes from the end, when Jake Buxton, with Stewart Downing waiting to complete the task had the Mansfield captain not accomplished it, turned George Boateng’s cross into his own net.

With barely a lamppost in the town not adorned with a terse invitation for Keith Haslam to relinquish control of the club, a phalanx of footballs launched over a stand roof on to the pitch in front of the live television cameras in the second half was the latest protest in the 12-month campaign to oust Mansfield’s unpopular owner. “It was ridiculous,” Billy Dearden, the manager, said. “It broke up our momentum and there are better ways to protest.”

At that point, Mansfield were attempting to restore parity after Lee Dong Gook, the South Korea forward, pounced on a weak punch from Carl Muggleton at a corner to break the deadlock. Twice in the space of 60 first-half seconds they almost managed it, Michael Boulding, their leading scorer, forcing fine saves from Mark Schwarzer, the first with the aid of the crossbar.

Lee, who is yet to score a Barclays Premier League goal after 12 months, may prefer an away tie in this afternoon’s fifth-round draw. A return of two cup goals is scant justification of Gareth Southgate’s faith and the forward is unlikely to have his contract renewed this summer. “Home games are more difficult for me,” he said. “Sometimes the crowd boo me and it’s hard to deal with. It’s become a burden.”

Dearden hopes for “a few bob” for new faces from Mansfield’s run in the competition. Southgate — he joked that he would not be averse to copying his opposite number’s pre-match Cup ritual of a bracing moor-top walk, with the exception that the swift post-yomp half would in Middlesbrough’s case be replaced by pints — has rather more ambitious spending plans.

Ross McCormack, the Motherwell forward, is in talks about a move, while a club-record £10 million bid to sign Afonso Alves, the Heerenveen and Brazil forward, continues to move at a glacial pace. Southgate said: “Our respective valuations are getting closer and we’re confident we can move it forward in the next 24 hours.”

Part of Afonso’s fee will be funded by the £7.5 million sale of Jonathan Woodgate to Tottenham Hotspur, although for the time being the prospect of the defender being joined through the exit by Downing has been ended. Southgate said: “I don’t want to speculate on Jonathan, but Stewart’s not for sale. Myself and the chairman have told him he’s very much part of our future.”

Mansfield (4-4-2) C Muggleton 5 J Mullins 6 J Buxton 7 G Jelleyman 7 D Martin Y 5 M Hamshaw 7 L Bell 7 S Dawson 6 J D’Laryea 7 S Brown 3 M Boulding 8. Substitutes: J McAliskey (for Brown, 73min), N Arnold (for Bell, 73). Not used: J White, I Holmes, C Wood. Next: Lincoln City (a)

Middlesbrough (4-3-3) M Schwarzer 7 L Young 7 R Huth Y 7 D Wheater 7 E Pogatetz 7 L Cattermole Y 6 F Rochemback 8 J Arca 6 J Aliadière 5 Lee Dong Gook 6 A Johnson 5. Substitutes: G Boateng 6 (for Pogatetz, 46), S Downing 6 (for Johnson, 65), Mido (for Lee, 72). Not used: R Turnbull, C Riggott. Next: Wigan Athletic (h)

Referee S Tanner
Attendance 6,258

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