Four talking points from Mansfield Town's final pre-season outing, including selection issues for League One opener at Barnsley and impressive cameo from new signing Will Evans

At lunchtime, the capture of the much-sought after striker from Newport County was announced - and just over six hours later the expectant Mansfield faithful got their first glimpse of what he can do.

It was only a brief cameo, 30 minutes in fact, with Evans actually taking part in his first pre-season run-out following a hamstring injury,

But in that time he showed encouraging signs of what he can do with the well-taken goal of a natural finisher to get Stags on their way.

It wasn’t just his goal that caught the attention, with Evans showing some good first touches and turns that certainly whet the appetite about what he can achieve when he reaches peak fitness.

Clough gives verdict on pre-season

Will Evans talks to the media after Stags debut

Toughest League One ever – Clough gives thoughts on season ahead

He is unlikely to start against Barnsley with Evans clearly in need of minutes. The same can be said of his fellow strikers with Stags facing selection questions for up top on Friday night.

Will Swan (ankle and illness) and Lee Gregory (illness) have also had their minutes impacted at a key point of pre-season. Tom Nichols sat out the Matlock exercise and presumably we will see him take his place in the first starting XI of the season.

There may be questions over what the starting side will be for Oakwell, but one thing that certainly won’t be in doubt for the game, and the entire season ahead, is that Stags will take their trademark attacking attitude into fixtures.

Stags bashed in a whopping 90 goals last time out, which was the second highest total in League Two.

Obviously League One defences are going to be a much tougher nut to crack, but that won’t stop Stags going for it.

In his post-game interviews Nigel Clough vowed to take the same approach into games as last season and play to their attacking strengths - a prospect that we all relish.

As with any season, squad depth is always going to be key when injuries and suspensions kick in or players need a rest to freshen up.

That factor will no doubt be intensified even more this season with the demands of League One football kicking things up a notch.

So it was encouraging to see a few good performances last night from the squad players with Aaron Lewis and George Williams notably giving Clough something to think about.

Lewis strutted around the midfield confidently last night and was excellent in possession, using the ball with purpose and care each time it was at his feet. The phrase Mr Dependable certainly springs to mind.

The backline for Oakwell looks pretty certain with Christy Pym, Aden Flint, Deji Oshilaja and Frazer Blake-Tracy certain to start, barring any late injury set-backs of course.

A fully fit Hewitt is likely to be the preferred choice for the right-back berth, but, with Hewit still lacking game-time, George Williams did his chances no harm on Tuesday night.

He made some really good runs forward to give Stags excellent width and got himself an assist with a cross for Callum Macdonald’s goal.

The proof is in the pudding as they say and we will see at Barnsley, but so far Stags look in pretty good shape heading into Friday’s eagerly-anticipated season opener.

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