Mansfield Town manager Nigel Clough has revealed that the club have made a loan offer to bring in a new striker ahead of this weekend’s League Two clash with Morecambe.
Despite their fantastic win over league leaders Stockport County on New Year’s Day, the result was bittersweet after attacker Rhys Oates was withdrawn after just 20 minutes through injury.
It was a result which closed the gap at the top to just two points, with Mansfield having two games in hand on their title rivals. However, the Stags were unable to take advantage of the Hatter’s gameless weekend, losing for only the second time this season on Saturday against Crewe Alexandra.
Oates missed the clash with the Railwaymen and the full extent of his injury is not yet known. It has been a difficult campaign for the 29-year-old, who ruptured his ankle ligaments in August which ruled him out of action until November. He has made nine appearances since returning, finding the net once when his first half equaliser against Tranmere Rovers doubled his season tally.
His potential absence means that Clough once again has to deal with depleted numbers, as has been the case for the majority of the season thus far. As a result, the ex-Burton Albion manager has revealed that they are trying to bring a new striker through the door before the weekend:
“We are mainly looking at forward areas as we are pretty well covered in defence and midfield, so it’s mainly striking areas we are looking,” said Clough, via Mansfield and Asfield Chad. “An offer has gone in for a loan and we are just waiting for the club to respond.
“We have definitely identified the one target and there are a couple of others on the fringe of that as well that we might pursue.
“But we will concentrate all our efforts on getting the main one in first.
“We are pressing for this week if we can so the player is in the squad for Morecambe. But unfortunately we’re in the hands of the other club.”
Regarding Oates’ injury, the 57-year-old said:
“It is not a straightforward one so we are just waiting for someone else to have a look at it and confirm the first diagnosis.
“Hopefully later this week we will have a clearer idea. Unfortunately it is not going to be a short term thing and it’s just about the degree of damage now.”
Mansfield will be hoping to return to winning ways this weekend in their trip to Lancashire whilst Stockport host Walsall.
Writer’s View
With the injury problems that Mansfield have had this season, it’s a miracle that they currently find themselves in a title race. Saturday’s defeat against Crewe was a major blow and could go down as a missed opportunity come May.
Clough is desperate to add reinforcements to his squad to keep the heat on Stockport and they can’t afford any slip ups this weekend. Dropping more points could see their promotion rivals pull clear once again, although the Stags do have that one game buffer. The manager will be hoping they can get this deal over the line before the weekend.