Stags' boss Steve Evans has today confirmed that he is no longer in the hunt for Rotherham United club captain Lee Frecklington, despite having a bid accepted for the 32-year-old midfielder yesterday.
Terms of the deal were agreed yesterday, however the club have withdrawn their offer for the central midfielder and no further negotiations will take place.
This transfer would have signalled the gaffer's first activity of the January window, however the boss revealed he changed his mind on the deal this morning.
"Yesterday, in the space of a 60 second conversation with the chairman at Rotherham, we'd agreed a fee to buy Lee Frecklington and were given permission to speak to Lee's representatives, which we did," the Stags' chief said.
"I went to bed, [as did] the chairman and the chief executive (John and Carolyn Radford) last night feeling satisfied with that process.
"We had a conference call between myself, the chairman and the chief executive and it was my decision to say that I don't think we should go forward in this process."
"I woke up this morning and as the time got to nine or ten o'clock, we had a feeling that it (the deal) wasn't quite right for us. We had a conference call between myself, the chairman and the chief executive and it was my decision to say that I don't think we should go forward in this process."
The gaffer managed Frecklington whilst manager of Rotherham United and although the former Peterborough midfielder won't be joining him at One Call Stadium, the boss insists he still has other 'irons in the fire.'
"The chief executive and I, we 'bumped' midnight over last night on two or three other players.
"We've got a clear idea where we want to go, we've got an even more clear idea where the players are and between the chairman and the chief executive they're trying to put the business side together which would then lead me to talk football.
"We've got irons in the fire. We could have progress maybe to the extent with them arriving tomorrow where we can put our focus into that, but the focus has to be Cambridge on Saturday."
The Stags travel to Cambridge United on Saturday in the midst of a run of only one defeat in 19 games, whilst the U's are unbeaten in four games after enjoying a fruitful festive period and the gaffer is expecting a tough encounter at the Abbey Stadium.
"It's going to be tough; they're four unbeaten.
"They got a bit of a 'slapping' at Luton, I'm sure they've learnt from that as we all do when we've had a slapping but you come out and you regroup.
"They've got good players. We were fortunate to beat them here, I went away from that day thinking 'we'll take it but we were a bit lucky'.
"I'm sure we'll take a good following and, as always, we say stick with us for how many minutes you see the Stags' players in front of you."
Frontman Kane Hemmings underwent a scan which revealed 'as minor a hamstring strain as you could see' after he was forced off at Cardiff City last week, however the boss has been bolstered by three players returning from injury this week.
"Kane's had his scan, it's nothing major. He's 50/50 for Saturday; if he's still 50/50 come tomorrow he obviously won't be involved.
"I've been out [at training] this morning and they've (Danny Rose, Zander Diamond and Joel Byrom) all trained. They're all big players and big characters Rose, Diamond and Byrom.
"I've missed Joel Byrom as much as I'd miss a pillow if I went to bed, he's essential."
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