Mansfield Town boss happy to see fans back at football

Two thousand home supporters will flood into the Abbey Stadium for the first time in almost nine months tomorrow night.

But Mansfield will have to wait to let fans in at Field Mill due to government guidelines placing Nottinghamshire in Tier 3.

"Fans being in will be an advantage for some League Two clubs, as if you can get 2,000 fans in, that's half capacity at some places," admitted Clough.

“But hopefully it shows that we're on the way back to normality and back to playing in front of a crowd again.

“I think it’s great for both teams. We’re obviously just disappointed there will be no away supporters there.

“It will be nice that we’ll be playing in front of a crowd again.

“It’s a gradual process for the players to get used to it. I just wish we could let some in at home.

“It’s ironic that we moved the game to Wednesday because of the cup match on Sunday.

“If it had been on Tuesday you wouldn’t have been able to have any fans.”

Clough has been in top-level management for over two decades and has found football without fans “eerie”.

“It’s been very strange, especially the first few games,” admitted the former Derby boss.

“Going to Sunderland was the weirdest. Normally you would have 30,000 Mackems in there cheering them on.

“That gave us a good indicator early on about how eerie it is at times.

“Every game since has been the same. I’d like to say you get used to it, but I don’t think you do, and we don’t want to.

“Supporters are absolutely vital for football, and all other sports as well, because they’re so engaged with it and play such a part in a game.

“Hopefully we can get them back in as soon as it’s safe.”