Archived News from August 2021
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COLCHESTER PREVIEWS
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Manager calls for ‘positive’ away performance
mansfieldtown.net, Monday 16th August 2021 Boss Nigel Clough says the Stags will look to perform in ‘positive’ fashion away from home against Colchester United, following back-to-back wins at One Call Stadium to start the Sky Bet League Two season. Mansfield have beaten both Bristol Rovers and Newport County AFC by 2-1 scorelines in NG18 ahead of the midweek trip to Essex, the first away game of the campaign. The manager says that the Stags will look to ‘play the same way’ as they do in front of their home crowd. https://www.mansfieldtown.net/news/2021/august/gaffer-pre-colchester/ “One of the things we try to do is try and play the same way [away from home],” he told iFollow Stags. “We’re certainly not set up to go away from home and defend for 89 minutes and try to nick a goal. “We’ll be as positive as we can. The key will be not giving daft goals away and then finishing our chances. I always fancy us to create chances, it’s then about finishing them. “[Colchester will be] much, much better [this season]. They stayed up [last season] and I think they’ve signed some excellent players. “I think they’re just finding their way [at the moment]. Most teams have had a big turnover in the summer, and it’s going to take more than two games for everything to settle down. The Stags will travel to Essex on Monday evening, following a training session at The RH Academy. “We don’t really like going overnight for night matches, but it’s too much on one day,” explained the boss. “If you get a problem on the motorway, it’s the best part of four hours. “We’ll train late today [Monday], get away at about six, do a bit of training in the morning and then rest ahead of the game at the night.” Reflecting on a promising start to the league campaign, the boss says the Stags have ‘found a way to win,’ despite not perhaps performing at their maximum in the opening two fixtures. “I think finding a way to win when we haven’t been quite as fluent as we would’ve liked to be [is reason for good start to season]. “We’ve scored four goals in the first two league games. The only thing that’s concerning is the goals we’ve given away [against Preston and Newport]. “It’s up to us to keep that [good atmosphere] going [at One Call Stadium] with our performances and results. “I think scoring goals and winning games is the way to do that. When Ollie Clarke nearly broke the net with the second goal on Saturday, I think there was nearly as big a roar when we scored the penalty the week before [against Bristol Rovers]. “The players are enjoying it [atmosphere], and they’ve really missed it. The lads are relishing it. The crowd has come back with renewed enthusiasm and we have to play our part to keep that going.” Nigel Clough also revealed that he has a fully fit squad to choose from on Tuesday night. “He [Charsley] was fit for Saturday and was with the squad. Everyone was fit on Saturday, he just couldn’t quite get into the 18. “It’s good at this stage [to have a fully fit squad]. I think any team that comes through pre-season and in the first weeks of the season has everybody fit, then it’s a very good sign.” iFollow Stags subscribers can watch the manager’s interview in full by logging into mansfieldtown.net/ifollow later today. Tuesday’s match at Colchester United is available to watch live on iFollow Stags for £10. To purchase your match pass, click here. ------------------ Manager Nigel Clough pledges Mansfield Town will be on front foot away from home ahead of Colchester clash chad.co.uk, By John Lomas, Monday 16th August 2021 Nigel Clough has pledged Mansfield Town will take the game to the opposition away from home as they have at home ahead of tomorrow's night's first away trip to Colchester United (Tuesday, 7.45). Stags headed south this afternoon with two home wins out of two under their belts to face a Colchester side with only a point from their opening two. Boss Clough said: “That's one of the things we tried to do towards the end of last season - try to play the same way away from home. “We are certainly not set up to go away from home and defend for 89 minutes and try to nick a goal. We will be as positive as we can. https://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/manager-nigel-clough-pledges-mansfield-town-will-be-on-front-foot-away-from-home-ahead-of-colchester-clash-3348555 “If you think back to some of the away performances like the final day against Port Vale or even at Salford in the defeat, first half we were very good indeed. “The key will be not giving daft goals away and can we finish some of our chances? I always fancy us to create chances but it's can someone finish them?” Colchester had a difficult season last time around but Clough expects much better this season. “I think Colchester will fare much, much better this term,” he said. “I think I remember reading that last season it was a bit of a strategy that they took a bit of a gamble and released players, going with a young inexperienced squad for the last few months. “They thought they had enough to stay up and then would put some resources into this season. “The first part of the plan worked - they stayed up and I think they have signed some excellent players. “They've brought in four from Ipswich Town who have played in the Championship. They would improve any League Two side. “I think they are just finding their way now.” He added: “Newport manager Mike Flynn said on Saturday they had brought 13 players in and were a work in progress. We have brought in eight - most teams have had a big turnover in the summer. “So it's going to take more than two or three games to settle down. I put Colchester in that bracket.” ------------------ Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough and players loving the One Call Stadium atmosphere chad.co.uk, By John Lomas Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough and the players said they were loving the atmosphere being generated by home supporters but know they have to keep scoring and winning to keep that going. Another noisy crowd helped Stags make it two wins out of two at home against Newport last Saturday with Bradford City the visitors this coming weekend. After so long locked out of grounds due to the pandemic the supporters have come back louder than ever and a delighted Clough said: “It's up to us to keep that going with our performances and results. “Scoring goals and winning games is the way to do that. https://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/mansfield-town-boss-nigel-clough-and-players-loving-the-one-call-stadium-atmosphere-3348907 “When Ollie Clarke nearly broke the net with the second goal on Saturday, there was nearly as big a roar as when we scored the late penalty the week before. “The players are really enjoying it and they have missed it. “I don't know what it was like here when they last played in front of a crowd 18 months ago, but the new lads are relishing it and the old lads just said it feels a bit different. “The crowds have definitely come back in with renewed enthusiasm and fervour and we have to play our part on the pitch to keep that going.” He added: “We have not been as fluent as we'd like to be, but we've scored four goals in our first two league games. “The only things concerning is the goals we've given away. We couldn't do anything about the one against Bristol Rovers, but a couple against Preston and one on Saturday were very avoidable from our point of view.” Clough continues to try to bring in another defender before the deadline. "We are still talking to one target in particular,” he said. “We have a list of three at the moment but are still chasing our top target.” ------------------------ Clough press conference, MTFC twitter feed, Mon 16 Aug NC: "We've found a way to win when we haven't been quite as fluent as we would like to be. We've scored four times in the first two games." NC: "Newport are a strong team with a very good manager, and I think they'll be right up there. It's up to us to keep the good mood around the club going by performing well." NC: "The players are enjoying it [atmosphere at One Call Stadium]. The new lads are relishing it and the old lads say it feels a bit different [from last season]. We have to play our part on the pitch to keep that going." NC: "We want to play the same way [away] and play as positively as we can. The key will be not giving daft goals away and finishing our chances. I always fancy us to create chances." NC: "Colchester will do better this season. They stayed up and have signed some excellent players. I think they're just finding a way [at the moment] after a big turnover in the summer. It will take some time to settle down." NC: "We're training today and getting away at about 6pm. We'll train in the morning and then rest up ready for the game." NC: "Everyone is fit now [including Harry Charsley]. It's good at this stage [to have a fit squad]. It's a very good sign to have everyone fit at the start of the season." -------------------- |
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