Mansfield Town have signed two more players towards their 2021/22 campaign promotion push as Ipswich Town forward Oli Hawkins agrees a two year deal whilst goalkeeper Nathan Bishop comes in on a year-long loan from Manchester United.

Hillingdon born Bishop is 21 years old and a former Southend United goalkeeper who had played 31 times in League One as a teenager before an undisclosed fee took him to Old Trafford in 2020.

The England U20 international is yet to play for the Red Devils first team but is highly thought of and can continue his progression under Nigel Clough whilst competing for the number one shirt at the One Call Stadium.

Clough said of his net-minding addition “Nathan is a promising young goalkeeper with good experience in League One with Southend.

“For a young goalkeeper, to get those 30 games in League One was great for him.

“He showed a degree of maturity in that time, which will have hopefully improved further in the past 12 months.

“Although he hasn’t played too much in the past year, he has trained with Manchester United’s first team every day, which is the next best thing to playing matches.”

6ft 6in striker Oli Hawkins started out at Hillingdon Borough before playing for Northwood and Hemel Hempstead Town where he enjoyed prolific spells in front of goal.

The 29-year-old made his name at Dagenham & Redbridge before a lucrative move to Portsmouth scoring 14 goals in 77 league games prior to joining Ipswich.

Whilst his time at Portman Road had been less impressive, Hawkins brings with him plenty of Football League experience and a strong physical presence who is aerially very good and decent on the ball.

Of his new capture, Manager Nigel Clough said “Oli will add a real presence in both penalty areas, something which we missed last season, both defensively and offensively.

“He’s an unselfish player and his assists’ ratio is very good, but his presence in both penalty areas is the main reason why we’re signing him.

“He’s been playing in teams who have competed towards the top end of League One in the last few seasons and we’re excited to add him to our existing line-up of strikers.”

*Main image @mansfieldtownfc Nathan Bishop joins from Manchester United.