It’s been a tough season for me so far – Ben Quinn
Tonight's man of the match Ben Quinn admitted it had been a tough season for him trying to break into Mansfield Town's high-flying first team.
The Irish youngster was given an outing in tonight's home Bristol Street Motors Trophy group clash with Newcastle United U21s and responded with two goals and an assist in a 3-0 victory.
“The lads are obviously flying so it's a tough team for me to get into right now,” he said.
“I work hard in training every day and try to impress in games like today to try to get myself into the team.
“I have learned a lot since I got here, being in a senior football environment. They are a great bunch of lads and the banter is good.
“The lads are flying, which is good for the team but for the likes of myself, it's a bit of a tough one. You have to keep working at it and hope you get your chance.”
On tonight's win, he said: “It was a brilliant night for me and most important was getting 90 minutes in as it's been a few weeks.
“Getting two goals and an assist was massive for me.
“They were two good strikes with the second a bit nicer than the first.
“I thought we were all on it tonight. Newcastle had some good players so we all had to turn up tonight as it wasn't a rollover.
“The gaffer said before the game that everyone had a reason to play here tonight.”