Mansfield Town set to ring the changes for Bristol Street Motors Trophy tie with Bradford City
Nigel Clough says he will ring the changes for tonight’s Bristol Street Motors Trophy game with Bradford City to give minutes to those who need them.
Stags go in search of their first points in the competition against the League Two side after losing their Group H opener at Rotherham.
And Clough admits he is keen to give some game time to squad players.
“Everybody that we have available will be involved,” said the Stags boss. “We got a few knocks at the weeknd unfortunately.
“Lucas (Akins) felt his hamstring late on, Elliott (Hewitt) got a whack on his knee and one or two others as well.
“Callum Macdonald felt his hamstring in training last week. We would love him to play if he can make it, but he’s 50/50 at the moment.
“If not it will be the usual mix of those who didn’t start on Saturday. Ben Waine and Ben Quinn will play and it will be 45 minutes for the others. We will try and get some of the young lads involved.
“We want to get minutes for those who need it. For Ben Waine and Ben Quinn to continue their time in the first team will be very important.”
Clough also revealed that four of his key injured players are still a number of weeks away from a return to fitness.
“It's so frustrating,” he added. “We are 5-6 weeks away from having four players back in (Frazer) Blake-Tracy, (George) Maris, (Alfie) Kilgour and (Rhys) Oates. So we just have to try and get through until we have those available. We can’t afford any more injuries.
Maris remains the closest of the quartet to being available and is hoping to be involved in a friendly against Sheffield United next week, which will involve 2 halves of 35 minutes each.
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