Lee Gregory has until transfer deadline day to prove he is fit enough for a new Mansfield Town contract
Mansfield Town's veteran striker Lee Gregory will be given until the end of the current transfer window on Monday, 1st September to prove his fitness and win a new contract.
The experienced 36-year-old struggled with a knee injury last season and a recurrence of the problem in February ended his season early.
He subsequently had surgery on it and Gregory is still battling to recover from that.
But manager Nigel Clough knows what an important player he is and said: “Lee is coming on and back doing straight line running.
“He is a little bit behind as he has had to have an injection to settle his knee down again.
“We are just going to give him every opportunity we can.
“I think he will know by the end of the window – another four or five weeks.
“He will have been working on his knee by then for two or three months.
“If he still can't do what he wants to do after that, he is honest enough with himself to hold his hand up and say no.
“But if he can't, we are still quite happy with the squad and we have four very good strikers, even with Joe Gardner being out injured.
“The only thing that might change is if somebody leaves or we get an injury or something exceptional comes along - one of those three things and we do still have room in the squad and the budget for another addition.”
One man who is hoping for a Gregory return more than most is fellow Mansfield striker Will Evans, who was top scorer last season with 14 but played his best football as a pair with Gregory in the first half of the season.
The duo scored 21 goals between them before Gregory's season was halted – 11 for Evans and 10 for Gregory.
“I have spoken to Lee a few times over the summer and I am doing anything I can to help him prove his fitness,” said Evans.
“He is a quality player and great on the pitch, and brilliant off it too,
“With his great career, playing with someone like that up top really does give you the licence to try new things.
“Parts of my game suit his game and parts of his game suit my game.
“It worked really well, though that is not taking anything away from any of our other attackers. We have some really good options and healthy competition this year.”
He continued: “Rhys Oates in my time here has not had much game time due to injury but looks sharper than ever, really strong and physical with a hell of a strike on him.
“He is really awkward to play against and a nightmare for most.
“With Dom Dwyer, we had probably four or five months together last year and his quality shines through.
“He has quality in and around the box and if he gets a chance he will finish it whether it's in the air or on the floor.
“Luke Bolton has just come in and I have had nightmares playing against him over the years.
“That pace he has is perhaps something we have lacked a little bit. He and Rhys have electric pace. I think we have a really strong mix up there this year.”
Ahead of Friday's opening League One game at Burton Albion, Evans said every striker wants to get their first goal of the season as soon as possible.
“We played Barnsley on the Friday last year and I came on for the last 20 minutes or so, not having had a pre-season,” he said.
“Then my first start the week after was Burton at home and I scored after four minutes which gets that monkey off your back straight away.
“I would take one of those against Burton this Saturday to get the ball rolling. You always want to get that first one, without putting pressure on yourself.”