Mansfield Town senior professional development coach Richard Cooper has praised the work ethic of Stags' under-21s after they stormed to a 7-0 victory over Doncaster Rovers' under-21s yesterday afternoon.
Tyrese Sinclair (2), Keaton Ward (2), Alistair Smith, Aiden Walker and Iyrwah Gooden all chipped in with goals in what was a dominant display at Doncaster's Cantley Park training ground.
Cooper explained that the game came at the right time, with the under-21s having just returned from an intensive week of training in the Algarve.
"The lads have worked really hard since they came back to training on 25 June," he said.
"The Portugal trip really enhanced the work that they've done so far.
"For the first game of pre-season it was exactly what we wanted. It was on a good pitch and the lads performed just as we wanted them to."
"The game against Doncaster really came at the right time coming off the back of the trip to Portugal.
"The lads really performed and we had six or seven under-18s involved, which is always great to see.
"For the first game of pre-season it was exactly what we wanted. It was on a good pitch and the lads performed just as we wanted them to.
"It's a great way to start our pre-season and now the boys are really chomping at the bit to get into the game programme."
Stags' under-21s are next scheduled to be in action on Tuesday evening with a trip to Matlock Town, but several players from the squad could be utilised in any of the three Mansfield Town XI fixtures, which take place this Saturday.
The under-21 pre-season fixtures can be found here, and the Mansfield Town XI pre-season fixtures can be accessed here.
