George Lapslie becoming vital midfield provider for Mansfield Town

The Stags drew 1-1 with Colchester United. But it was clear to see one player who gave it 100% – as he has done since coming into the squad.

George Lapslie was signed on a season-long loan from Charlton Athletic near the end of the extended summer transfer window.

The brother of Colchester United player Tom Lapslie, the midfielder has been at Charlton since the age of 12 and was moved up into the senior side in 2016.

He finally made his first-team appearance in the 2017/18 season against Blackpool as he came on for 16 minutes in a 1-1 draw against the Seasiders.

The 2018/19 season was a breakout one for Lapslie as he helped Charlton get promoted back up to the second tier of English football. He played 27 times in League One as the team averaged nearly two points per game with the midfielder in the squad.

Unfortunately, he lost his place in the midfield in the Championship season as tough competition restricted him to ten games and 450 minutes in the league.

He didn’t have the best debut ever aswell. He started the game and in true George Lapslie fashion he gave it his all flying into tackles and trying to cover every blade of grass.

A strong tackle saw him yellow carded in the first half and that yellow card turned into a red one in the 78th minute as the Stags went down to ten men and lost the game 3-1 to Bradford City.

Since that game, Lapslie has been involved in seven matches (six in League Two and one in the FA Cup). It has been great to see the progression of the midfielder under caretaker manager Richard Cooper and now manager Nigel Clough.

He’s been involved in four goals in the last four games which has seen the Stags unbeaten in that time. He opened the scoring at Bolton in a 1-1 draw, he gave Mansfield the game-winner in the 49th minute at Sunderland in the FA Cup, he opened the scoring for the amber and blues in a 2-1 win against Forest Green and he assisted Nicky Maynard in his cracker that opened the scoring at the One Call Stadium in their 1-1 draw to Colchester.

With a 7.6 match rating from the Colchester game, he was handed Man of the Match against the U’s. Lapslie also has the best average match rating of 7.04 which is 0.13 better than second-placed Corey O’Keeffe.

The midfielder averages 1.1 successful dribbles in every game and has a high success rate of 80% which is bettered only by the previously mentioned O’Keeffe who is 5.7% more successful.

He is also not afraid to shoot as he is tied with the strikers Nicky Maynard, Jordan Bowery and Andy Cook at 0.7 shots on target per match.

Lapslie continued to be the man of the moment throughout the game as he looked to recover the ball, regain possession back for the Stags and looked to ping ball out the both flanks where most attacks looked to come from.

The London-born midfielder also made the most passes from the Stags squad as he notched 48 passes equal with Mal Benning. Along with that he recovered the ball the most times for the Stags (five) equalled by Kellan Gordon, Ferrand Rawson and the ever-present Benning.

A key passer, warrior and a box to box midfielder is what the Stags have needed in their side. Lapslie has given the midfield more comfort and stability as the midfield three or four which we now see on a regular basis, know that they have Lapslie’s comfort and can pass pressure free.

The midfielder continues to be instrumental in the midfield and Stags fans can only pray that this continues and if it does we may see a new and improved Mansfield become a team that has a solid defensive unit and a ball-playing and comfortable midfield. The only thing that needs to improve is the attacking unit.

Lapslie has provide those vital goals, but most fans of the amber and blues would like to see a striker that is not afraid to shoot and can bang in goals regularly which hopefully will happen as confidence continues to be lifted by Nigel Clough as he gives players the freedom to play their best football.

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