James Perch: Mansfield Town defender cleared to return after fractured skull

James Perch joined Mansfield from Scunthorpe United in the summer of 2020

Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough says James Perch being cleared to resume full training after a fractured skull has given the club a "major boost".

Perch, 36, was injured during training in August and was expected to miss the rest of the season.

However, he has recovered quicker than expected and was due to make his return for the Stags' under-23s on Wednesday, but the game has been postponed.

"To have him back is wonderful news," Clough told BBC Radio Nottingham.

"We've been excited about it for a few weeks, but didn't want to say anything, we didn't want to jinx it or pre-empt anything.

"Although he's getting on a little bit he's unbelievably fit and, as we saw at the start of the season, he's still got something to offer."

A consultant recently told Perch the fracture had healed well enough for him to play again, wearing protective headgear.

"He's still going to have to do quite a bit of physical work but shouldn't need too long. It's how comfortable he'll be with the headguard and that sort of thing in his own mind, so we'll leave it up to him to a degree," said Clough.

"He's gradually joined in where he can head it again and he's competed as well as anybody in training. We're being slightly cautious with him but we're hoping everything will go well."

League Two Mansfield can set a new club record of eight successive league wins if they beat Leyton Orient on Saturday, following a 15-match run without a victory at the start of the season.

"I think when we were having that bad run he was quite pleased he was out injured, but now the team's doing well everybody wants to be a part of it obviously," Clough joked.