Boss Nigel Clough reveals the one stumbling block that has hit Mansfield Town's pre-season plans

Stags kick off their pre-season campaign with the traditional opener at Retford United on July 14 in what will be the first of four confirmed friendlies throughout July.

But Clough says Stags are struggling to get a behind-closed-doors game, planned for the training camp in Scotland, in the diary.

“We have struggled a bit to get games this year. A lot of people have had work done on their pitches and don’t want to play, with the League Cup coming in a week before the season as well,” said Clough.

“We have got a few training ground games and Barrow on the way up to Scotland, but we can’t, at the moment, get a game for Tuesday in Scotland, so that might be an in-house training game. They have started their League Cup up there so that complicates matters.

“People’s approaches seem to have changed, they don’t really want games, certainly not on their own pitch, so we have to do whatever we need to do to get games in.”

Stags opened last season’s pre-season schedule with a 6-0 win at Retford and will most likely come with a similar victory next week.

But Clough is keenest to see his players get minutes in the legs and leave Cannon Park unscathed.

“You are always looking to get through games without injuries, that’s the biggest plus you can have,” said Clough.

“We will start off with 45 minutes each for everyone at Retford and that will be replicated at Barrow.”

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