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Archived News from July 2016

MURRAY, BAXENDALE AND RAINWORTH MANAGER REACTION
8th July 2016 10:55


Stags' boss 'chuffed' with first workout at Rainworth
mansfieldtown.net, 2nd July 2016

Manager Adam Murray says his players enjoyed 'a good work out' after their 2-0 friendly win at Rainworth today.

Goals in each half from midfielder James Baxendale and frontman Adi Yussuf secured the 2-0 win at Kirklington Road this afternoon.

Commenting on the first pre-season friendly of 2016-17, boss Adam Murray said: "To put the lads into a match situation so early, after the week we've had, we knew there'd be a little bit of rustiness out there.

"We were quite sluggish at times but we got a lot out of it. I thought some of the play was excellent and we got some of the 'pictures' painted which we had worked on this week.

Read more at http://www.mansfieldtown.net/news/article/2016-17/stags-boss-chuffed-with-first-workout-at-rainworth-3165568.aspx#GssUpkcqFi1MmSIg.99

"The biggest thing was to get the lads back into a game situation, that's always the point of these early games.

"It's about getting people's minds on the game scenario and allowing the natural pictures to occur.

"It was interesting to see certain permutations play together and obviously these next five weeks are about seeing what works and what doesn't work."

"I'm really chuffed with today. There's been a lot of physical work this week so this game allowed people to use the ball and got them back in the frame of mind to win football matches. Overall, I'm very happy with some of the performances and it's the start of a long journey."

Meanwhile, the manager revealed that he had no concerns on the fitness of defenders Lee Collins and George Taft, who were left out of the squad today, confirming that the duo would resume training on Monday.

"A little like we did with Greeny (Matt Green) last year, it's about making sure that Tafty is ready for starting the season. He's joined in with everything this week in training so we're chuffed to bits with where he is at. It was always the plan not to throw him in today.

"With Lee, his groin was a little tight yesterday and we're obviously not going to risk anything at this stage of the season. It's nothing major and they'll both be ready to train for next week."

Goalscorer James Bexandale added: "It was quite a warm day, so a good test for the boys and we carried out a few patterns of play which we've been practising.

"We're doing a lot of formation work and pattern play and want to build our intensity heading into the league season."

On his goal he added: "Greeny (Matt Green) has done some good work to get into the box. I have followed it up, hoping that something would drop out to me. Thankfully the run paid off and I managed to poke it into the corner."

View the interviews with both Adam Murray and James Baxendale now on Stags Player HD.

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Plenty of positives in Mansfield Town’s first pre-season friendly, says Adam Murray
chad.co.uk, by Mark Duffy, Saturday 02 July 2016

Mansfield Town boss Adam Murray took plenty of positives from Saturday’s victory at Rainworth Miners Welfare as the Stags began pre-season on a positive note.

A 2-0 win was secured thanks to goals from James Baxendale and Adi Yussuf in front of 629 people at the home of the NCEL Premier Division outfit.

And Murray says it was good to see his troops back in action after just a week back in training.

Read more: http://www.chad.co.uk/sport/mansfield-town/mansfield-town-news/plenty-of-positives-in-mansfield-town-s-first-pre-season-friendly-says-adam-murray-1-7994242#ixzz4DIE8ykPI

He said: “It was a good work out and we got a lot of good pictures out that we wanted to paint.

“We knew that getting the lads out so early for a pre-season game would mean they’d be a bit rusty and perhaps a bit sluggish at times but I thought some of the play was excellent and overall I’m very happy with the start.

“The biggest thing was getting the lads back into a game situation, like we did last year. It gets everyone’s mind back on the game scenario and gets the partnerships working too.

“There’s been a lot of physical work this week so it was important to get working with the ball again. There were some good individual displays out there and in the second-half I thought we penetrated a lot better, but the next five weeks will be about seeing what works and doesn’t work so it’s good to get underway.”

Murray also added that George Taft and Lee Collins weren’t included as a precautionary measure and that he expects to see them back in action over the next week.

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Goalscorer James Baxendale explains importance of momentum for Mansfield Town
chad.co.uk, by Mark Duffy, Saturday 02 July 2016

James Baxendale made a scoring start to pre-season for Mansfield Town on Saturday and explained how important getting a winning momentum can be.

The Stags won 2-0 at Rainworth Miners Welfare with Baxendale netting an early opener before Adi Yussuf rounded off the win in the second-half.

And midfielder Baxendale was glad to get his first game of the summer under his belt.

He said: “It was good to get out there. It was quite a warm day so tough at times but we worked on what we’d practised during the week and it was a productive game for us.

Read more: http://www.chad.co.uk/sport/mansfield-town/mansfield-town-news/goalscorer-james-baxendale-explains-importance-of-momentum-for-mansfield-town-1-7994262#ixzz4DIE4L7Ya

“The team’s quite fit so it’s about trying to maintain that as well as work on the patterns of play we’ve looked at in training to see what works.

“We’ll gradually build the intensity as we get closer to the season and with lots of good opponents coming up we want to build some good momentum to take into the Newport game on the opening day.”

On his goal, Baxedale added: “Greeny did some good work to get into the box and I just hung around in case the ball fell to me which it did and I managed to squeeze it in.

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Watts Reacts To Stags Defeat
http://www.mansfield103.co.uk/sport/story/?n=4228&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Following Saturday's 2-0 defeat by Mansfield Town, Rainworth Miners Welfare boss Julian Watts says it's now time for the real pre-season work to begin.

Despite having had only three training sessions, the Wrens gave a good account of themselves against the Stags' two different first team squads, one in each half. But they succumbed to goals by James Baxendale in the sixth minute and Adi Yussuf in the 62nd.

Although the vast majority of the game was played in the Rainworth half, Watts' side did have a few chances to get onto the scoresheet, the best midway through the first half when Liam Theakstone could not quite connect with the goal at his mercy.

Watts said afterwards that it had been a useful exercise for the club, both on and off the field with an attendance of 629 to boost t6he coffers. But he admitted that it's difficult to learn a lot from games such as this.

He said: "We know these games help us to sort out our organisation and shape, and although whaty you can take from it is limited you still want to see a good attitude, good shape, discipline, people doing their job properly, and talking to and supporting each other, and we saw plenty of that today despite the result.

"We conceded too many goals last season, and although we did well in holding a Football League club to two, both of those goals came from our own mistakes, when we lost the ball in positions where we should not have done, so we will be concentrating in the coming weeks on tightening up a bit at the back to ensure that we are not a soft side to play against.

"Apart from the two goals we defended very well but we didn't get much chance to see what our attacking options are, and we'll be looking at that in the coming games, starting against Gresley next Saturday. Gresley are a very good side from a league above us, and it's in games like this that we will really see where we are at."

Watts also had a word of praise for the departing Matty Sykes, who was playing his last game for Rainworth prior to relocating into the York area. He continued: "I realy can't say enough about Matt, he's a great lad with great ability as we saw last season. He chipped in with quite a few goals, and when Connor Smythe left he dropped in seamlessly into an unfamiliar left back berth and looked as if he's been playing there all his life.

"I'm trying to sort him a new club out near to his new home, and on behalf of the club I wish him all the best and thank him for his time here which has been excellent."

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twitter
Corbin shires @big_man_corbs
Loved getting back on pitch today for @mansfieldtownfc can't wait for the season to start now!!

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