Mansfield Town under-19s are at home this Saturday for a Youth Alliance League fixture against Rotherham United at RH Academy (11am kick-off).
The Stags’ first game of the season last weekend away at Lincoln City saw the youngsters play out an exciting encounter with the Imps.
The match eventually finished 4-4 with forwards Louis Bonser and McKeal Abdullah both netting a brace at The Elite Performance Centre.
PDP lead coach Sam Collins says he was impressed by the attacking nature of the young side’s game.
“I’m really pleased with the performance from an in-possession point of view and the way in which we included some of the things we’d worked hard on in pre-season,” he said.
“We’re disappointed with the goals we conceded.
“As an attacking threat, we caused them no end of problems and on another day, we could’ve had double figures with the chances we created.
“Young centre-back Mace Oldershaw did really well when you consider he’s just turned 14 and was playing in an under-19 league.
“Not many clubs do that in the first game of season.”
Attacking midfielder Jakub Kruszynski has impressed in pre-season and did so again on Saturday.
“We’re really pleased with him [Jakub].
“He’s very creative, scores goals and plays two or three different positions.
“Whatever we throw at him he does well at.
“We think we’ve got a super talent that one day could go into the first team environment and make an impression there.
“We don’t want to put him under too much pressure, but we’ve got to keep pushing him and exposing him to as many challenges as we can.”
On forwards Louis Bonser and McKeal Abdullah scoring braces at the weekend, Sam said: “It was brilliant for them.
“They probably could’ve scored hattricks.
“It’s a really good start for both of them, long may that continue.”
The PDP lead coach outlined what the youngsters can expect from the weekend’s fixture against the Millers.
“Rotherham will make it a difficult game,” he said.
“They play a direct style that puts you under loads of pressure.
“Probably eighty percent of the time you won’t come up against that style in Academy football.
“The first team will face these types of opponents, so the players have to deal with it.
“If we can defend properly and do the ugly side of the game well, then we can then play our own style and if we do that, we can cause a lot of problems.”
Saturday’s Youth Alliance League fixture is FREE to attend for supports at RH Academy.
The venue for the match is: RH Academy, Woburn Lane, Pleasley, Mansfield, NG19 7RT.
