Nigel Clough happy with Mansfield Town squad after Deadline Day dealings

Nicky Maynard has joined Newport on loan as he aims to win a Mansfield deal next season. (Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)

Mansfield added Jamie Pardington and Oliver Sarkic to the ranks on Deadline Day, to add to the early loan deal to bring in Stephen Quinn from Burton.

It leaves Clough confident that he now has the squad needed to cope with the rigours of the rest of the season.

“We’re very happy with the squad that we’ve got. We got Oliver Sarkic in at the last minute – he can play anywhere across the front three,” he said.

Loan man Oliver Sarkic will give Mansfield plenty of attacking options. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

“We brought the third-choice goalie [Jamie Pardington] in, which we needed. We’d already got Stephen Quinn in too.

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“He [Sarkic] will offer us that little bit of quality – technically, he’s a very good player. He has versatility and can play anywhere across the front three.

“We’d been concerned for the last couple of months that if anything happened to Marek [Stech] or Stoney [Aidan Stone], then we’re delving into a 17-year-old on the bench from the academy.

“We’ve had plenty of games where if you have a 17-year-old on the bench, your goalie gets sent off or injured! We needed a third choice and we’re very happy with Jamie.”

Deadline Day saw Nicky Maynard head to Newport on loan as he looks to play his way back into contention at Mansfield next season.

“I’d had a chat with Nicky [Maynard] last week, and talked about how well Jamie Reid and Jordan [Bowery] had done, and his opportunities would probably be limited,” added Clough.

“He asked to look at things with a view to earning a deal for next season. If he sits and just comes off the bench a couple of times, that doesn’t help him for next season. We want to be fair to everyone, so he went to Newport on loan.”

Clough also believes Stags will be well-served by a few of the younger players if push comes to shove.

Said Clough: “We’re very happy with the squad. Tyrese [Sinclair] will be involved, as will James Clarke and Jason Law.

“We’ve also mentioned that if we need a striker on the bench, we’ll promote Nathan Caine from the academy. He played at Scunthorpe in the Papa John’s Trophy, so there are no problems if he’s involved as well.

“We never take anyone for the sake of it, so if we’re going to sign a young player, let’s look at our own young players first and give them an opportunity.”

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