Benning agrees new Stags deal

The West Midlands-born man has become a fans’ favourite for his solid displays and incredible long-range strikes during his debut season with the club, in which he made 31 League Two appearances.

The defender joins goalkeeper Brian Jensen and midfielders Jamie McGuire, Mitch Rose and Jack Thomas in signing for the Stags for next season.

After putting pen-to-paper this morning, Benning said he was ‘delighted’ to get the deal done.

“Obviously I’ve always wanted to stay here. It’s a great club to be at and a great manager to work under,” he said.

The former Walsall defender picked up the Goal of the Season award for his thunderous volley in October at home to Newport County, as well as the chairman’s Player of the Season gong.

Said Benning: “I was shocked to get it (the chairman’s award), but it’s something that I’m proud of because you must’ve had a decent season for the chairman to pick you as his player of the season.

“So I was buzzing with that award and couldn’t be more grateful for it.”

After missing three months of the season with a knee injury, Benning says he hopes to stay injury-free and play the entire of the 2016-17 campaign.

“I set high standards to myself before I was injured,” he said. “I knew it was going to be hard to get back to those standards after I was injured, but I felt like I went through a patch where I was hitting up and downs with the inconsistency.

“But towards the end of the season I felt I was back to my consistent level.

“Obviously I played the majority of this season but hopefully next season I can play the whole season, injury-free.”

Mal Benning’s new deal will start from July 1 and is subject to Football League approval.