Inside Futbol
·16 October 2025
Yes, He Did – Nottingham Forest Out-on-loan Star Catches Boss’ Eye

In partnership with
Yahoo sportsInside Futbol
·16 October 2025
Michael Regan/Getty Images
Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough has lauded Nottingham Forest talent Joe Gardner for his ‘sharp’ performance against Newcastle United Under-21s in the EFL Trophy.
The Nottingham-born midfield talent is an academy graduate of the Tricky Trees and made his senior debut last year in February against Bristol City in the FA Cup.
The outing is Gardner’s only appearance for the first team and currently he is on his second loan spell away from the Premier League side.
In the second half of last season, he was on loan at Lincoln City, and in the recent transfer window, League One side Mansfield Town got him.
The versatile attacker, though, has not been able to settle fully at the Stags yet, due to his injury issues, and on Wednesday night, he started against Newcastle Under-21s.
The 20-year-old provided an assist for Max Dicov in the 24th minute and Clough pointed out that the Nottingham Forest loanee showed brilliant sharpness in the first 30 minutes of the match.
However, due to his injury, Gardner has not been able to feature a lot recently and the Stags boss made it clear that he needs to build up his match sharpness.
“Yes, he did [look impressive], especially early on”, Clough told Mansfield Town’s media (2:22) when he was asked about Gardner’s display against Newcastle Under-21s.
“[I] thought he looked very sharp in the first half an hour or so.
“He has not played too much either, of late – came off what, ten or 15 minutes ago.
“So he just needs building up [his match fitness] as well.”
Mansfield star Kyle Knoyle also hailed Gardner’s undoubted qualities, stressing he needs to stay fit to show his skills, week in and week out.
The Irish Under-21 international got 80 minutes under his belt and it remains to be seen if Clough will give him minutes against Luton Town, where Jack Wilshere is now in charge, on Saturday.
Gardner, now, will look to build his match fitness up to get himself up and running at Mansfield in order to impress his parent club for the rest of the campaign.