Mansfield Town under-18s host Huddersfield Town this Saturday in the Youth Alliance League (11.30am kick-off).
Update (Friday 15:00): The kick-off time and venue for this match has now changed. The game will kick-off at 12noon at: Ilkeston Town FC, New Manor Ground, Ilkeston, DE7 8JF
Stags were 4-0 winners over Hartlepool United in their previous outing on Tuesday. Ronnie Kokkinos and a McKeal Abdullah hat-trick secured another victory for Mansfield.
Professional development phase lead coach Steve Chettle discussed his side’s latest win.
“It was a good game for us because the Saturday game [Youth Alliance Cup semi-final at Grimsby] was postponed,” he said.
“It was a game where we wanted some revenge from the 3-0 loss earlier in the season.
“We didn’t start the game great to be fair, we scored three quick goals at the end of the first-half.
“Ronnie Kokkinos scored a fantastic goal and McKeal [Abdullah] scored two in four minutes in the first-half.
“We started the second-half better, McKeal scored another and the game was finished at 4-0.
“It looked a comfortable score but we can still do things better and we’ll look to do that on Saturday.”
Despite the scoreline, the coach feels there was room for improvement.
“We can still move the ball better in the middle and top third of the pitch and we can still take more of our chances.
“It sounds a bit silly; we’ve won the game 4-0 but we should have scored maybe seven or eight goals.
“We need to convert chances when we get opportunities to put games to bed earlier than we do.”
The former Nottingham Forest defender has been pleased with his team’s defensive solidity.
“Our resilience at the back [has impressed me].
“Lewis Warnaby and Cormac Maher have been playing centre-back and Anthony Nunez the goalkeeper [as well] has been vital in that.
“Lewis Warnaby all season has been fantastic in his one-v-one defending and it gives us a platform to build from to go and win games.
“Keeping clean sheets guarantees us at least a point and we can move on from there.”
Stags host Huddersfield and are targeting another win at RH Academy this Saturday.
“We’ve watched Huddersfield a couple of times and they’re very expansive in how they play,” Chettle said.
“We need to make sure that we continue to work the ball in good areas and create overloads like we do.
“We also want to continue the good form that we have had in the league. We’ve only lost one game since October.”
The match is FREE for supporters to attend.
RH Academy’s address can be found at: Woburn Lane, Mansfield, NG19 7RT
