“The bigger the crowd, the more the club can do” says Rainworth Miners Welfare joint Manager Richard Smith, who is hoping for a bumper attendance at the Wrens’ Nest for the Notts Senior Cup clash with Mansfield Town next week.

Nigel Clough’s Stags team will visit Rainworth on Wednesday November 24th in the first round of the Notts Senior Cup. Adult entry for the 7pm kick-off will cost £5 for adults and just £1 for juniors.

Smith hopes to see a good backing of supporters at the Kirklington Road as the Wrens look to kick-start their season following an unfortunate injury crisis in the early parts of the league campaign.

“It’s a local game and a few of the lads have either played for them [Mansfield Town] or are something to do with the club,” said Smith.

“It’s going to be a big night hopefully. I’ve just seen that at Kimberley vs Forest there were 700 [supporters] there. So it’d be nice to get a couple of hundred in [for our game against Mansfield].

“This is a club who should be getting hundreds [of fans] every week. You look at Hallam, 600 per week, North Ferriby, 600 per week.

“It’s massive for clubs if they’re getting people paying £5 or £6 a time. It allows a club to do so much more in terms of the structure.

“The bigger the crowd the more the club can do.”

Smith admitted that Rainworth’s results of late have been below expectations, but with an improvement in performances in recent matches, now could be the time that the Wrens reignite their season.

“We’ve definitely deserved more than we’ve got out of the last three or four games,” he said. “It was just of a case of it coming [a win] and it did so on Saturday.”

“One win makes a massive difference. You can see tonight [speaking at a midweek training session] that everyone’s buzzing and it gives the lads confidence.

“We’ll take it into Saturday [at home to Glasshouse in the league] and we’ll hopefully get a good result and then take that into Wednesday.

“If you get two wins and your confidence is up anything can happen. I know they won’t send their first team but they’ll still be a very strong side.”

On what sort of team he expects Mansfield to field, Smith said: “A mix of 23s and 18s.

“They will be a very good side whether it be 23s or 18s. [They have a] really top class manager and top class players at that level.

“The management and the older lads will recognise what he’s [Nigel Clough] done in the game, both as a player and a manager and have massive respect for that.

“It’s going to be fun. We’ll go out there and enjoy it, that’s the main thing.”

*Article provided by Max Barton (Rainworth Miners Welfare Correspondent).

*Main image @RainworthMWFC the idyllic Kirklington Road Ground will host Mansfield in the Notts Senior Cup.