Nigel Clough delivers pre-season update as one Mansfield Town player is 'a few weeks behind'
Nigel Clough has delivered his first update following the start of Mansfield Town’s pre-season preparations.
The Stags boss said it was good to see his players back together following the summer break as pre-season training got underway this week.
Luke Bolton is the only member of the squad who has not yet started training with the team. He is expected to be ‘a few weeks behind’ his teammates as he recovers from appendicitis.
“He was doing all his off-season work and everything but didn’t feel too good and was rushed into hospital for appendicitis,” Clough confirmed in his press conference. “He can’t seem to catch a break, that lad. He had that [the operation] done and he’s got a slight infection, which I think often happens, so he’s in the process of dealing with that at the moment. He will be a few weeks behind, he obviously can’t get going until the stitches and everything heal, so he’s the only one out at the moment.”
Bolton struggled with ongoing injury setbacks throughout the 2025/26 season, making just 16 League One appearances.
Clough also provided an update on others, including new signing David McGoldrick.
“Three or four players can’t quite do everything off the back of injuries. George Maris, Jordan Bowery, we’ve got to be careful with Tyler Roberts with his injuries… David McGoldrick. So there’s a few doing the vast majority of it but we will pull them out for one or two runs just in case.”
Mansfield Town’s social media has been full of photos and videos of the players working hard upon their return to training. Stags will be looking to build on their impressive end to last season. A strong run of results earned them their best league finish in almost 40 years as they came tenth in the League One standings, losing just one of their last 15 games.
Stags’ pre-season fixtures will get underway next week on Tuesday, July 14th when they face Retford United at Cannon Park.
“You always want to get through it without injuries, that’s the biggest plus you can have. We will start off with 45 minutes each for everyone at Retford and then that will be replicated on the Saturday at Barrow,” Clough said.
Mansfield will then face Alfreton Town on the road before hosting Derby County at the One Call Stadium. Their season will then kick-off with a blockbuster clash against Sheffield United in the first round of the Carabao Cup.
“I think it's a brilliant draw that we can’t stay away from,” the manager continued. “We had them last year in the FA Cup at Bramall Lane so it’ll be nice to have them at home. It’s going to be a different prospect – I think it’s a good idea that they’ve put it in a week before the season, basically it means it’s your last pre-season game or first proper game going into the league programme. Everybody plays their strongest team the week before, so there will be less weakened teams by putting them in at this stage, which will probably lead to less upsets.
“Where we played Sheffield United in the FA Cup last year and the normal team wasn’t playing, I don’t think that’ll be the case this time. But I think it’s a great one for the supporters. We’ve got Derby at home in the friendly, then Sheffield United, then Doncaster and Luton… they’re four brilliant home games for us to start the season.”