‘Ambitious’ Mansfield Town want to kick off with a positive start against Tranmere Rovers, says Ollie Clarke

The midfielder - one of 10 new arrivals this summer - says there is plenty of ambition in the camp ahead of tomorrow's curtain raiser against Tranmere Rovers (KO 3pm).

"I think every time you come into a new season everyone wants to start off positively," Clarke said.

"I think we've got an ambitious group and ambitious manager. The club's ambitious, so we want to start off positively.

"There's a lot of new faces and I think everyone's ready to go and it'll be an exciting time."

After 11 years at home-town club Bristol Rovers, the 28-year-old turned down the offer of a new deal to follow former manager Graham Coughlan to the Stags.

"My family's from Bristol and it was a big decision, but at the end of the day I wanted to go and try something new," he added.

"At my age I wanted to experience something different. I thought if I didn't do it now it's probably not going to happen. I took a leap of faith."

Clarke is fit to face Tranmere at the One Call Stadium tomorrow after shrugging off a calf injury.

He faced Rovers twice last season with the Gas, winning 2-0 in Bristol in a bizarre contest which saw the visitors end the game with nine men, and drawing 0-0 in Birkenhead.

"They're a strong side," he said.

"They've got some good players. I know a couple of their lads, Payney (Stefan Payne) was at Bristol Rovers and I know a couple of other lads through friends.

"They've got a good squad and they've just come down, so they'll be looking to rectify what happened last season.

"We've just got to concentrate on ourselves. We've got the ability in our squad to go and have a good game and try to pick up an important win."