Archived News from July 2007
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DAWSON STAYING TO PROVE A POINT, D`LARYEA INJURED
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D'Laryea could miss start of season, Martin injured
CHAD website, 12 July 2007 By John Lomas STAGS midfield ace Jon D'Laryea will find out on Monday if he will miss the start of the new season. D'Laryea underwent an ankle operation which forced him to miss a big chunk of the second half of last season. And, despite working hard in pre-season training, he is still feeling pain in the ankle and is going to see a specialist on Monday. With Giles Coke having left the club, Stephen Dawson stalling on signing a deal and also new signing Dan Martin straining a calf in traning, it is a big worry for Stags boss Billy Dearden. "It looks like Jon may struggle to be fit for the start of the season which would be a huge blow for us," he said. "He is still feeling the ankle when he kicks a football and we need to have a look at it again. "He is the one player more than any that I wanted fit for the new season. "He is a very important player in the squad and we missed him when he was out injured last season. "I will take him to see the specialist myself on Monday and we will have to take it from there." He aded: "We've had another setback with Dan Martin straining his calf. "It's not down to working them too hard. But he just stretched for a ball and felt it. Hopefully he will only be a week or so. "But at the moment we have a big hole in the centre of midfield." Midfielder Stephen Dawson remains the one player who has not yet agreed to a new contract and has been linked with clubs back home in Ireland. There have been reports that Dawson has now said he will sign at Field Mill but Dearden said: "It's news to me. "I have heard nothing from Stephen Dawson about his contract, though he is training hard." DAWSON STAYING TO PROVE A POINT Evening Post, 11 July 2007 Stephen Dawson today revealed he will sign a one-year deal with Mansfield - to prove himself at Football League level. The midfielder returned from Ireland to report for pre-season training having still to agree a deal. And although the 21-year-old remains unhappy with the contract on offer at Field Mill, he is now prepared to put pen to paper and stay. "I am just going to sign the original deal that was offered me in the first place," Dawson told the Evening Post. "Everyone knows I'm not happy about it, but I'm going to get my head down and play my football. "I want to prove to myself I can play well at this kind of level. I thought I was doing that in the first half of last season before I was injured. I have been offered more money to play in Ireland, but it's not about that. I just want to play regularly, score a few goals and show people what I can do." Former Leicester City trainee Dawson has kept himself fit over the summer and feels it will help him in pre-season training. He is also impressed by the new training facilities at the John Fretwell Sports Complex, near Warsop, after the players saw them for the first time on Monday. Dawson said: "I don't mind pre-season, even though it is hard at times. The new training facilities should help, especially when we can use the two big pitches." |
Latest | July 2007