Mansfield Town midfielder Louis Reed praises ‘special’ group of players

Stags ended the campaign with a 1-1 away draw at Barrow today which saw them pipped to second place by Wrexham but also wrecked Barrow's hopes of a place in the play-offs.

Reed has enjoyed being part of such a special squad and admits it will be hard if colleagues do now leave with boss Nigel Clough set to bring in six or seven new faces for the next level.

“Obviously it's going be tough if people are going their separate ways,” said Reed.

“We've built such a special group here and it would be a shame to see some of them go.

“But that's football at the end of the day. I'm just happy to be here next season.

“The manager has just said to us in the changing room that it's not often you get special groups like this, and special seasons like we've done.

“So we've got to enjoy it and celebrate where we can.

“But ultimately now it's about getting ready for next season because it's going to be even harder.

“We might be able to get our feet up for a week or so but the manager's just said the pre-season is going to be even tougher this year, so we can't get too carried away.

“But it is feet up for a little while and then I'm ready to go again.”

He continued: “Overall, I am very happy.

“Promotion was the aim at the start of the season, so to get it done with two games to go was really good.

“I would have liked to have finished second by winning at Barrow, but they had a lot to play for and it was definitely going to be a tough place to come.

“They showed that today. But we have finished with four wins and a draw so I think we'll take it.

“We always want to win games, though already being up obviously takes a little bit of the pressure off.

“But the manager has been pushing all season. He wants us to finish as high as possible, so we came in today wanting to get the win.

“It was a shame we couldn't, but it was still nice to not lose the game.”

Reed also praised another hueh showing of away fans, saying: “Our fans have been spot on from the start of the season.

“We've had little blips along the way, but they've stuck with us and to reward them with a promotion, it's what we set out to do.

“Last season we missed out but we had lots of injuries and people playing in makeshift positions.

“We've had a little bit of it again this season but not to the extent of last season.

“But the players that are in there, every single one of them puts 100 per cent in.

“There's not one person that you could say hasn't done that this season.”