Setback, but Stags hoping Joe Riley can recover to stake a claim

Riley suffered a serious knee injury when he damaged anterior cruciate ligaments in pre-season training in August 2020 and has yet to have a chance to impress new manager Nigel Clough.

“Joe is doing okay but he's had a little setback and he's had an operation to clean out his knee a week or so ago,” said Clough.

“He was back in this morning for the first time in a week or 10 days and it feels much better.

“Hopefully he will be available to come and do some pre-season with us and we will see how he goes over the summer.”

Clough admitted: “He is not a player I know an awful lot about. I just know a bit of his history.

“But he will be invited back to do pre-season with us if he wishes.

“I hope he gets fit and his knee is up to it. He got a pretty bad injury, so one thing he mustn't do is rush back.

“Even if he misses the first couple of weeks of pre-season he must make sure his knee is right before he starts training.”