After scoring a brace on his Stags’ debut in the 5-0 win over a Malta Players Association XI last night, frontman Lee Angol believes his team-mates are already beginning to understand each other's games.
The forward signed from Peterborough United in May and his well-taken brace in Malta capped off a promising Stags’ performance in which striker Danny Rose and midfielders Paul Digby and Will Atkinson also got on the scoresheet.
And although the Stags’ new-look squad is only in its early stages of gelling together, Angol believes the squad are already combining well on the pitch.
“It’s a talented bunch of players throughout the whole squad,” Angol said.
“If you see in the first half, there was a lot of talent on board and in the second half, the team I was playing with, everyone’s linking up together and everyone’s understanding each other.
“Obviously we’ve got to get used to the system what the gaffer (Steve Evans) and Rayns (Paul Raynor) want, we’ve got to start listening to new instructions and it takes time sometimes to understand what they want from you and what they expect from you.
It’s not just pure running; it’s enjoyment as well and the team’s getting together, learning new faces and making new friends.
“Once you get it and you listen, it becomes easier and if we keep working hard, it works [going forward].”
After being in pre-season training for just over a week, the former Lincoln City loanee is enjoying the start of his Stags’ career.
“It’s been hard work as usual with pre-season and I’ve enjoyed it as well. It’s not just pure running; it’s enjoyment as well and the team’s getting together, learning new faces and making new friends, it’s all good.
“You don’t really go into a team when the majority of the team is brand new players, so it’s a new experience for everyone I guess. We’re all working hard to talk to people on different days and get to know different people.”
The 22-year-old frontman scored two goals and had a penalty saved in last night’s pre-season friendly and he now hopes to build on his goalscoring debut moving forward.
“Personally, [it was] good to get two goals – it should have been three but it was a good save from the ‘keeper – but overall it was a good start to pre-season.
“Some strikers might not need to score, they might not worry if a game goes past and they don’t score. But some strikers need to score every game – they go into each game thinking ‘I need to score, I need to score’ to build up that momentum and confidence to bring into the season.
“I’ve started with two and hopefully I can keep scoring more.”
Supporters can view Lee Angol’s post-match interview on iFollow Stags.
