Archived News from April 2002
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FITNESS/HASSELL DELIGHT/SELLARS/MEDALS
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Stags players will all be in at Field Mill today as manager Stuart Watkiss begins his new summer fitness regime.
With a 10-week break before players return for pre-season training on July 1, Watkiss intends to make sure none of his squad let their fitness slip. The manager said: "We will give them all a fitness test today and weight them and record all the details. "Then we will expect them to come in for light training sessions on at least five of the next nine Wednesdays when we will test them and weigh them again to make sure everything is all right. "If anyone is struggling them maybe they will have to come in for a few days. It is better to find out problems and sort them out straight away rather than leaving it 10 weeks. "It is a very early finish to this season and some clubs are keeping their players coming in until the third week in May anyway while other clubs are also doing what we are doing. "At the moment my players deserve a rest, physically and mentally. But then we need to make sure they are looking after themselves. "To be fair, the six years I have been here, their fitness has always been good when they've returned and I don't expect this summer to be any different." Stuart Watkiss says Bobby Hassell is set for a bright future if he can continue to meet the standards he has set this season. Hassell, who this week picked up the Mansfield Town Player-of-the-Year awards, has finally been able to show what he could do on a regular basis this season after injuries dogged his previous three years of football. "Bobby thoroughly deserved these awards as he has been the model of consistency," said Watkiss. "But now he has set his own standards, he must keep them up. If he can do that and kick on from here then I believe he will have a very bright future in the game." Hassell himself says being named Stags Player-of-the-Year was the icing on the cake to an excellent season. He said: "Winning promotion last weekend was great, though we should have clinched it before then. "To win the Player-of-the-Year awards was a massive bonus for me." Town winger Scott Sellars says he is undecided on his future as yet, but admits he would like to continue playing for another season. The former Bolton man said: "I've still not made a decision on what I've going to do yet. I'm 36 now, but I've really enjoyed it at Mansfield so hopefully I'll play another year, hopefully I'll get something offered by Mansfield so I'll just wait and see really." The Sheffield-born star hopes to talk with the manager in the next few days. He added: "Hopefully sometime this week I'll have a chat with Stuart. I've really enjoyed it here with the squad of players and the manager. "They made me feel really welcome and at my time of your career the most important thing is that I'm really enjoying it. "And with playing with the lads there and the style of football, I've really enjoyed it so hopefully we can sort something out." Former World Cup final referee Jack Taylor will present Town's players with their promotion medals in the town's market place on Monday evening. Supporters will have another chances to cheer their heroes when they leave the ground on board an open-top bus which will take them the short journey into town where they should arrive at 6.15pm. The players will be introduced to the crowd and also sign autographs before moving on to a civic reception at Mansfield District Council. |
Latest | April 2002