Mansfield Town’s under-19s travel to Oldham Athletic tomorrow as Steve Chettle’s side prepare to face the Latics in the EFL Youth Alliance League Cup (12noon kick-off).
A fortnight ago, Stags’ youngsters roared back from a two-goal deficit to claim a point in their opening Youth Alliance League fixture away to Huddersfield, before losing on Saturday to last season’s champions Harrogate Town 2-0 at RH Academy.
Tomorrow they embark on their League Cup journey and professional development phase lead coach Steve Chettle told www.mansfieldtown.net about preparations heading into the match: “The training sessions have been good," Steve said. "We had a game on Tuesday against a Canadian eleven which was a really good workout with older and stronger players. It was a good working exercise and they were back today (Thursday) in preparation for over the weekend.
“We have prepared by doing our video analysis today and we will have a pre-game presentation for the players to look at and get ready for the game on Saturday morning."
The under-19s' chief was also encouraged to see 18-year-old forward McKeal Abdullah make his first team league debut for the club last Saturday in Stags’ 3-0 victory over Morecambe, and by doing so became the 1,000th league player to play for Mansfield in the club’s history.
“McKeal has been involved in the cup games against Grimsby and has made his debut over the weekend as well, so it’s fantastic to get on to the pitch for the first team."
He added: “The integration of the players with the senior squad will help the boys find out what it takes to be a first-team footballer.”
Supporters can watch tomorrow’s match free of charge. The address for the stadium is: Chapel Road Training Ground, Hollinwood, Oldham OL8 4QL
