Stags pair hoping on recall to face Cambridge

Jacob Mellis and Danny Rose have staked big claims for a Mansfield Town recall when Cambridge United visit on Saturday.
Jacob Mellis - hoping for a recall against Cambridge.Jacob Mellis - hoping for a recall against Cambridge.
Jacob Mellis - hoping for a recall against Cambridge.

Both shone in the reserves’ 4-0 midweek win over a young Burton Albion side at St George’s Park, Mellis running the show and Rose netting twice.

Boss Steve Evans admitted: “Danny is always knocking on the door. He’s been knocking on the door and he’s started some games as well.

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READ OUR STAGS v CAMBRIDGE BIG MATCH PREVIEW“I thought Jacob Mellis was the best player on the park by some distance.

“But it’s not just about those two. Rhys Bennett and Jimmy Spencer were back getting minutes and you only had to look at the quality of that team on show to know we’ve got a decent squad of players here.

“We might change it on Saturday. We’d like to get Jacob Mellis in. “If we think we’d like to command a bit more of the ball then Jacob immediately comes into our thoughts.

“By the same token you just check yourself a little bit and say, well, it wasn’t just about the goal at Lincoln, it was about how hard the team worked.

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“I have always said if our team can work as hard as the opposition it gives us a chance.”

“When you talk about hard-working teams, we’ve got one coming here on Saturday.”

On the Burton game overall, he added: “It was just about minutes on the pitch. As expected, Nigel Clough fielded a young side as they were going to Old Trafford last night.

“It was a comfortable day for the boys, but they got minutes on the pitch and a lot of good things out of it.

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“You sometimes have to work harder when you have as much of the ball as we had. I don’t think Bobby (Olejnik) had a save to make in the entire match and we could have scored double or treble the amount of goals, given the amount of possession and chances we had.

“The surface was nice and the opposition, albeit a young side, played in the right way.”