Competition high as Stags players give boss food for thought

Evans said no one should read too much into his starting line-ups over the next week as he experiments with three main friendlies against Championships sides plus two away at non-League opposition.

“We have different permutations and different formations and the lads are working hard,” he explained ahead of Saturday’s opening home friendly with Sheffield Wednesday.

“You always come out of a pre-season game or a training session and say he’s going to start the season, then he drops a bit and someone jumps in front.

“We will be getting towards the back end of our pre-season campaign before we can be sure. By the time we play Nottingham Forest here and a couple of non-League clubs thereafter, I think in that week I will be pretty close in my head to knowing where I am going.

“Although we’ve signed 13 players I can assure our supporters now that one or two of those lads won’t develop into what you’d call regular players for us. That’s the nature of statistics. We are going to give them all every opportunity – I have no one in mind as they have all impressed. But not everyone can be successful.