Mansfield Town

Chapman first joined the Stags on loan in 2013 and was part of the Conference-winning side which took the club back into the Football League after a five-year absence before rejoining this summer after a two-year spell with Newport County.

The ex-Oxford United man has been deployed as a defensive midfielder so far this season and he says it is a role which is different for him, but one that he’s enjoying.

“I’m enjoying it and I’m trying to find consistency with it. I haven’t been consistent enough, for me, in the first [eight] games. I feel like I’m having a good game one week then an average game the next, so I am quite enjoying the change but I am looking to improve and it’s more about consistency for me in that position now."

With Chapman’s role requiring him to sit just in front of the back four, it gives the Stags’ other midfielders the license to go and influence the game further up the pitch.

“It’s about giving Clem (Chris Clements) the freedom to go and influence games and go and get on the ball and do what he does because he’s an unbelievable talent,” Chapman said. “He’s great on the ball and [he] gets us going. 

“And also it’s been either Mitch [Rose] or Jack [Thomas] [playing in midfield]. I allow them to go and run around and charge around like they do with their unbelievable energy levels. It’s more of a disciplined role, organising people more and dictating, sitting out of it when I am itching to get forwards.”

Although predominantly a midfielder, the Sheffield United academy product was used as a defender in Adam Murray’s experimental team for the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy game with Notts County, a position that Chapman says he is happy to play in when called upon.

“We spoke a lot in the summer, me and the gaffer, about what positions he sees me playing. Like in the Notts County game when I’ve gone and played as the middle one in a three at the back, we’ve looked at that as a position for me, not for a season, but if needs be I can go and do that. 

“I think there will be games where he allows me that license to go and kick on a little bit further, but for the moment, I’m going to play wherever he wants me to play and I’m happy to do that.”

The 25-year-old sees Mansfield as a place to settle down with his family after moving around a lot in the early stages of his career.

“I’ve spoken with the chairman in the summer and the manager and I’m looking to settle here now. Hopefully I can perform to a standard which everyone thinks acceptable and I’d like to be here for a good number of years now. 

“I’ve never really felt like I could settle in Newport, I enjoyed my time there and I don’t regret it and I wouldn’t change it but I never looked at it as somewhere I could stay for five or six years.”