Mansfield Town manager angry at destabalising of striker Danny Rose

Former Stags boss Steve Evans tried to sign Rose for the Posh but failed to meet Mansfield’s valuation before the transfer window closed on Thursday.

But after the Stags drew 2-2 at Yeovil on Saturday, Flitcroft hit out at people behind the scenes destabalising and manipulating the striker.

Flitcroft said: “All that week Danny was told he was going to be a Peterborough player by people behind the scenes.

“He has been directed in a certain way and manipulated into then putting a transfer request in.

“That really isn’t Danny Rose and it was a surprise when it did come in.

“Everybody was gearing up to losing Danny, but our chairman and (chief executive) Carolyn stood firm. They made sure he could only go if the valuation was met and it wasn’t - even though Danny was told it had.

“A lot of work went on behind the scenes to destabalise and upset Danny.

“When the Ivan Toney deal went through (to Peterborough from Newcastle on transfer deadline day) it was one they had been chasing all summer. I think Danny realised that maybe handing in the transfer request was not the right thing to do.

“He was in the right frame of mind to come down here (to Yeovil).

“We will sit down with Danny and his representatives and see what the future is.”

Talking about the decision to allow Lee Angol to join Shrewsbury last week, the manager said he thought the Stags perhaps had one too many strikers.

“It coincides with the business we did earlier in the (transfer) window. We brought Otis Khan in and I believe there are goals in him. We got Tyler Walker in and Craig Davies. So I felt with (also) having Danny (Rose) and Lee (Angol) we were always one over and there was the potential for movement,” Flitcroft said.

“After the season Danny had we knew people would be interested (in him).

“We accepted a bid off Grimsby (for Angol) and I think that alerted Shrewsbury to the fact that Lee was available and could go.

“He is going to League One and if he produces the football and lights it up, which he has got the potential to, then we have protected ourselves on the back end of the contract with sell-ons applicable to his development.

“It is a good bit of business for the football club. It gives us one less option, but with four main strikers at the club I am not too sure how many times we would have used that option.”

Flitcroft said the closure of the transfer window did not necessarily mean the end of players movement because loan deals could still be arranged until the end of the month.

He said: “We are being pro-active in looking and making sure we have got bases covered. We are still speaking to players as part of an ongoing process.

“I promised the chairman and Carolyn that when I came to the club I would make players better working with them day in day out on the training ground. “There are signs of that but if there are players who will improve the squad and give us a different balance and cover, then I will bring that opportunity to the football club.

“If something happens from our side (losing players) at least then we are proactive rather than reactive.”