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Matthew Craig says he’s looking forward to helping Mansfield Town enjoy a strong second half of the season after joining on loan from Tottenham Hotspur.
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The 21-year-old midfielder, who can also play at centre-half and right-back, has been on loan at Barnsley for the first half the of the campaign, playing 16 times in all competitions, but was recalled this week to then make the move to the Stags for its remainder.
And speaking to the club’s media he explained the appeal of joining Mansfield Town.
He said: “"I’m delighted to be here and can’t wait to get started.
"The support here is brilliant and the team’s doing really well this year which makes it easier when you’re coming into a team that’s doing well rather than struggling,
"The manager is obviously a big draw too. He detailed how family-orientated the club is and it was a big factor for me to come to a club which is tight-knit with a good fanbase.
"The style here suits me too in terms of being front foot and attacking.
"I spoke to Davis Keilor-Dunn before coming as he was here for a couple of seasons before joining Barnsley in the summer, and he spoke about the club in glowing terms which helped contribute to the season too.
"Being at Barnsley was a good experience for me, especially going up a league in the summer [from being at Doncaster last season] and I got quite a few games there too, so I’m really looking forward to kicking on in the second half of the season.
"Doncaster was really good too last season and getting to the play-offs was exciting, we didn’t get the results we wanted but it was a great achievement to get there in the first place considering where we were at Christmas.
Craig has been at Tottenham since U12s level and made his debut at the end of the 2022/23 season against Leeds United.
He also represents Scotland under-21s and has previously captained his nation in younger age groups.
He added: "I’m energetic and like to get the ball down and play as well as getting my foot in to a tackle. Like every youngster I watch all the top midfielders and try and add bits of what they do into my game.”
Craig also has a twin brother, Michael, who plays for fellow League One club Reading having left Tottenham in 2022.
Matthew added: “Being in the same league as each other is good as we can share bits about opponents and things like that, and it’s good to have someone else who’s very close to you that you can go through things with.
"It’ll make it a bit sweeter if we beat Reading when we play them but I have to just treat him like any other opponent so I’ll look forward to it.”