New boy Louis Reed happy to link up again with first manager Nigel Clough at Mansfield Town

Barnsley-based Reed moved to Mansfield from promotion rivals Swindon Town at the end of last week to sign for Clough, who gave him his debut as a 16-year-old at Sheffield United.

His hopes of a debut were dashed at the weekend when the trip to Northampton Town was postponed, but he said: “It's been a really enjoyable first week. They are a great group of lads.

“Obviously I am back with a manager I have worked with before and the only disappointment has been not being able to play on Saturday, so I am looking forward to the weekend.

“The facilities here are top notch. It is nice only being 40 minutes away from home as well.

“It wasn't a factor in me coming here. It was more coming here to play football and it was the club itself. But being 40 minutes down the road was an added bonus for me. Everything kind of worked out nicely.

“I have been really impressed with everything here from the pitches down to the chefs, the kit room, all the staff, and the players have been brilliant as well.”

On his relationship with Clough, he said: “I have been in touch with the gaffer here for the last couple of years. We have had conversations here and there.

“Then it was just a case of Swindon telling me I wasn't needed any more. As soon as that happened the manager got in touch with me and it went from there really.

“I have known him for a long time and he is someone I really enjoy working with.

“It was a long time ago now – it's coming up to 10 years he gave me my debut. I was only 16 and it was against Rotherham at home. I think we won 1-0 with a last minute penalty so that was an added bonus.

“Every day he wants the best out of you. He can have a laugh when he needs to as well. But when it comes to the business side of things he is someone I have admired for a long time.

“He can definitely get the best out of me. Obviously he knows me and he knows my family. Man-management wise it is perfect. On the pitch he knows my strengths and I am hoping we are going to try to play to those.”

Reed was Swindon's Players' Player of the Year last season and he added: “It was a bit of a strange one to leave, but they have brought in some really good players there so it was increased competition for places and I just want to be playing regular football. It seemed the right time to move away.

“My season has been a bit up and down, in and out of the team in the last two or three months as they tried to rotate the team around.”

Reed was part of the Swindon squad that won 5-2 at the One Call Stadium in a thriller back in October which saw the visitors pull away after Hiram Boateng was sent off after 59 minutes.

“I came on as a sub for the last 25 minutes and I think it was just a really good game of football and two good footballing siudes going at each other,” he said. “I think the sending-off changed things a lot.”

Reed sees himself as a holding midfielder, but can play further forward in midfield too.

“At Swindon I was playing the holding midfielder role,” he said.

“When I first played under the manager here I think I played a bit further forward, but I have moved deeper and that is my strongest position and one I really enjoy playing. But if I am needed to play higher then I can do that as well. On the ball I like to dictate play and the tempo of the game. I like to get moves started from back to front.

“I know I am not the biggest, but I do like to get stuck in as well. I will try to break up play if teams try to counter-attack against us. I have a balance of both trying to start attacks and stopping the opposition as well”

He added: “My ambition here is promotion – it's as simple as that. Obviously Swindon are a team fighting for that as well, but having trained here this week I have seen it's something we are more than capable of.”

Stevenage and Leyton Orient have gone clear in the top two places and Reed said: “There have been a lot of shock results, almost to the point where anyone can go and beat anyone.

“You have got your two sides that are away from the rest of the pack, then everyone else is kind of around the same area. So it's going to be interesting and I think we can get the job done.”

Not all of the Mansfield squad were strangers on his arrival.

“I know Christy Pym, having spent two years at Peterborough with him, and I was at Sheffield United with Kieran Wallace under the manager,” he said.

“I also know George Maris a little bit from playing against him in academy football. We always seemed to come up against each other and have a good battle.”

Reed, who also had a season on loan at Chesterfield, now hopes to make his debut in front of the Stags' noisy home support having missed out with the Northampton postponement.

“It has given me that little bit of extra time to get to know everyone which will definitely come in handy,” he said. “Playing in front of the home crowd will be great. I was at the last home game and the fans were great throughout.”

And being from Barnsley, a debut against Yorkshire rivals Doncaster Rovers on Saturday would be one he would relish. “It is a game that, if I am playing in it, I will definitely be getting stuck into,” he smiled.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​