Mansfield Town facing tough pre-season training camp in Scotland next week

Stags head for St Andrews on Monday for five days of work and bonding before returning home to play a first pre-season friendly at Retford United a week on Saturday.

The return begins this week with some fitness tests on Friday, though levels are likely to be high with Mansfield enjoying an extended season that ended in that Wembley heartbreak.

“We are all back in this Friday. I didn't see any merit in bringing the players back in any earlier with our season going to 28th May as it did,” said boss Nigel Clough.

“Then the Scotland trip will be a tough few days. With it being a shorter pre-season it will be a little bit more intense.

“If you have the full five or five and a half weeks you can spread it out a bit more.

“They won't have lost that much fitness as it's only been four weeks since our last game, though people will be at different levels, especially people who didn't play much towards the end of the season. One or two of those are coming in a bit earlier this week.”

He added: “There are no games or anything like that while we are up there- it's too early for that. We will just be doing the sort of work we would have been doing at the RH Academy.

“There are a couple of nice parks up there and of course a lovely beach as well. It's a change of scenery for them and I am sure they will like running on sand.

“We actually wanted to go the week after but they have the 150th Open on golf-wise and there is little accommodation to be had.

“So we are happy going next week and then we come back and start in earnest with the game with Retford on the Saturday, Matlock, then step it up with Rotherham and hopefully the one in midweek, then Oldham away.

“Hopefully they will keep everyone topped up and those five games should be a good balance and ideal.”

Clough still hopes he can bring in his targeted new signings in time to take them to the training camp and earlier in the week he said: “Ideally we'd like them in for the Scotland trip. It helps to get to know everybody while you're away.

“That's one of the biggest aims of a pre-season trip - bonding or gelling players, whatever word you want to use.

“We are already on a shortened pre-season with less than five weeks to the first game at Salford. So we would like to get them in as soon as possible.”