Mansfield Town manager Paul Cox has praised the work ethic of his squad after a week in which his side defeated Championship duo Derby County and Nottingham Forest at One Call Stadium.
The Stags have shipped just two goals so far in pre-season action and Cox is quietly confident ahead of the forthcoming Blue Square Bet Premier campaign, which kicks off on August 11.
He said: “The work we’ve been putting in on the training ground recently seems to be coming to fruition right now.
“Collectively, the team ethic has been excellent, which is something that I’ve called for, and one or two players look really sharp at the moment which is a big positive.
“Sometimes when you bring in a lot of new players, getting them to gel and understand their roles within the team can be quite difficult, but we need to keep our feet on the floor as results are irrelevant in pre-season.”
The 40-year-old also revealed that he is still looking to strengthen his squad before the Stags season-opener against Newport County, with Pablo Mills and Ryan McGorrigan being two potential targets.
Cox continued: “Pablo Mills is just training with us at the moment and keeping himself ticking along. He’s in our thoughts because he’s trained really well and I get along great with him too.
“Ryan McGorrigan is on trial with us and I’m still speaking to his representatives at the moment.
“We’re still looking to strengthen. If it means putting pressure on the contracted players who are already here, in a nice way, then I need to do that.”
The Stags are next in action on Tuesday evening when two separate teams will make the journeys to Chasetown and Eastwood Town respectively.
