Young stars to play in final Mansfield Town Checkatrade group game

The Stags are already through to the knockout stages of the competition and Scunthorpe have qualified alongside them as well, Mansfield three points ahead with a plus two better goal difference in their bid to win the group for a home draw.

Mansfield drew 1-1 at home to Charlton in the FA Cup yesterday, so this game comes around very fast for Flitcroft to juggle his squad and adhere to competition rules.

But he was quite relaxed about it, saying: “With all the travel we’ve had recently, the Sunday game gave us a bit more chance to recover from that and an emotional game against Grimsby on Tuesday night.

“They have relaxed the Checkatrade rules a bit too now so I want to be playing some younger players like Lewis Gibbens, Jordan Graham, Jason Law and Alistair Smith.

“It’s important we can so our supporters get to see our next generation.

“Let them get excited about the players that have been hidden in our system for so long. I get excited by it.

“And, with such a small, competitive squad, we still have some experienced players that might have to play in the game too.”

The manager was not getting upset about two games so close together, adding: “Some people have to go out and graft on a building site for seven days a week or do other manual jobs.

“We get to play football and live out your dream and I remind the players about that all the time when people start talking about busy schedules.”

Admission for the game is just £10 adults and £5 concessions with no increase on matchday.

Fans should note that only the Ian Greaves Stand lower tier (blocks A-E) and Ian Greaves upper tier (P-R) will be open for the fixture.

Only these blocks will open for the match in an attempt to reduce stewarding costs.

The Quarry Lane Stand will not be open for this fixture.

The Checkatrade Trophy Round of 32 will be played week commencing Monday, 3rd December.