Mansfield Town

Boss hints that new faces could arrive to strengthen injury-hit squad.

Boss Paul Cox is meeting with chairman John Radford today to discuss the possibilities of bringing in some new faces – possibly in time for Saturday’s trip to York City.

Our injury woes went from bad to worse in Tuesday’s 0-0 draw at Tranmere Rovers, as striker Alex Fisher sustained a dislocated shoulder, whilst wing-back Kieron Freeman suffered minor knee ligament damage.

Fisher’s injury will keep him sidelined for at least a month, but scans have revealed that Freeman, on loan to us from Derby County until the New Year, will only be out for a couple of weeks.

As a result, our manager is expected to once again dip into the emergency loan market in order to strengthen our injury-hit squad.

He said: “I’m meeting the chairman today and hopefully we can bring some bodies in and get back onto a level playing field with the teams we’re competing against.

“We’re being pro-active in trying to bring bodies in. I’ve looked at lists and timescales of players being out and we’ve got to bring people in that are going to improve us.”

Reflecting on our injury problems as a whole, our boss said: “I’ve never had a situation like this before – not even as a player.

“Even the other night, it becomes a little bit surreal when a player goes down and you get the call to make changes. You wonder what we’ve done.

“But it’s part and parcel of the game. It’s probably a one-off, because I’ve never been through it before, and we’ve just got to get on with things.”

“I’ve gone home most nights being analytical of how we train and what we do and a lot of the injuries are just circumstances. The Luke Jones [injury] – he was just running for a football.

“It’s shocking at the minute. We thought we were coming through it and then you get two more.

“You hope that when you come in for training on a Thursday, you just have a few bumps and scratches, but the physio’s room is looking like a department from A&E at the minute.

“It’s not looking good, but we’ve just got to get on with it. Nobody is going to feel sorry for us.”

He continued: “It’s been a tough week for the players –, especially with the games that we’ve had to play and the injuries that they’ve seen sustained by quite popular members of the squad.

“But I thought our body language on Tuesday was a little bit submissive and as if we’d accepted that because we can’t fill the bench and have one or two playing with injections, that it’s okay to just accept a point.

“I’m not into that. I want to win football matches and it’s up to me to drag every little ounce that I can get out of the players. Hopefully, the cavalry will be around the corner and we’ll get one or two back.”

In team news for Saturday’s match at York City, skipper/midfielder Adam Murray is available for selection again following his three-match suspension.

Paul Cox’s full interview from today’s press conference is available on Stags Player. To subscribe, click here.