No change for Mansfield Town reserves under new management

Different bosses at the Stags have used the reserves for very different things, some abandoning the side altogether, but new assistant manager Joe Dunne said the philosophy would stay the same under them as it has been for some time now.

“We will work closely with the first team and leave the reserves to the coaches who've been here for a period of time and know the players better than we do in terms of longevity,” he said.

“We will use the games wisely to make sure some of the pros who have not been playing get some game time as well as looking at some of the younger players coming through that we want to have a look at, having heard a lot about them.

“It will allow that mixture of good experienced players to help the young players and then by the end of the week bring us all back together.

“It's a good opportunity to see them in a match-related situation rather than just in training.”

Yesterday Mansfield Town reserves let a 2-0 lead slip to end up drawing 2-2 at home to Peterborough United at the RH Academy.

Jimmy Knowles gave them an early lead and Alistair Smith added a second soon after the break, but Posh hit back on 70 minutes and levelled from the spot in added time.