Newly-signed Stags defender Matt Preston is eager to reunite with manager David Flitcroft and assistant manager Ben Futcher, who he worked under at his previous club Swindon Town.
Preston, who turned down an offer to stay at Swindon, put pen to paper on a deal to bring him to One Call Stadium yesterday.
The centre-back says he is looking forward to working with Stags' boss Flitcroft and assistant manager Futcher again, after being previously signed by the current Mansfield Town boss during his spell with the Robins.
"It’s a new challenge for me and I feel like I will thrive under the gaffer and Futch. They have a lot of experience and I feel like I'm going to learn a lot from them," said Preston.
"They are the right mentors for me to improve personally and I enjoyed my time working with them previously at Swindon."
"They like working hard and I agree with their work regime.
"They are the right mentors for me to improve personally and I enjoyed my time working with them previously at Swindon.
"I feel I have made the best decision for me to keep developing as a player."
Preston also spoke highly of the Stags' fans, who he says can expect 'dominant' performances from him in the heart of defence.
"I’ve researched the club and the fans get behind the club. It’s a massive thing to know that, as a player, you’re coming to a club where the fans are supporting you in the stands.
"I know a few players here already like Mal Benning and Omari Sterling-James, and it's those types of things that made me want to join.
"I'd say dominant centre-back would be the number one thing I would say [to describe myself]. I'd like to think I'm quite quick, which as a centre-back is a good thing to have.
"I like to think that if we get the ball down I can play it quite well too."
The defender has plenty of experience in League Two thanks to his playing days with Swindon, and knows exactly how tough the league can be. Despite this, he maintains that he wants to play as much as possible, and feels that the Stags have every chance of promotion next season.
"It [League Two] is a tough division. You have to dig in during a lot of games, and you have to go to places that are not exactly pretty, but when you get there the 1-0 and 2-0 wins are sometimes the best ones.
"The number one thing for me now is game time. The more games you play, the more you learn. There are always little things that you can sharpen up on and I feel like it's game time that adds to that sort of improvement.
"It's nice to get it [the deal] done relatively quickly, it puts your mind at ease because you know what's going to be happening next season. It's a nice feeling.
"Promotion is the number one aim. I know that the gaffer and Futch are on the same wavelength. I feel like the team and the club are very capable of doing it."
iFollow Stags subscribers can watch Matt Preston's answers in full by logging into mansfieldtown.net/ifollow later today.
