Mansfield Town defender feeling the rhythm again

The summer signing clashed heads with team mate Krystian Pearce at Yeovil and, although he completed the game and seemed okay, he subsequently took ill and had to go to hospital for a scan.

“It was frustrating to miss those few games with a silly thing like concussion. But there are rules and regulations we have to follow,” he said ahead of tomorrow’s visit of Northampton Town.

“It’s good to start to get into the rhythm of playing games again.

“Tom had just come in as physio here and did everything he could. It’s a slow process. You have to be bled back in almost. If you do things too quickly you can go downhill and some people can lose their lives.

“So I was glad Tom and the gaffer were understanding that I had to come back in slowly.”

This is Preston’s second spell with boss David Flitcroft after working with him on loan at Swindon Town and he said: “He is a very knowledgable manager who knows what it takes to win games.

“You could tell from the spell I had at Swindon when we went unbeaten for a long, long time.”

The Stags new boy has been happy with his form in a defence boasting the joint best goals against record in the league.

“I feel like I’ve been playing well when I have been playing,” he said.

“We have the joint best defensive record on goals conceded so as a back three or back five we are doing well.

“I do feel like we are still learning as there are still a few players not used to their positions. The more games we play the more we are going to learn and improve that record.

“I am familiar with playing in a back three as I’ve done it for about three years now - across the whole back through, left, middle, right -so I am quite used to it at the minute.”