Nottingham Forest have a number of players out on loan at the moment, with three of their future stars at Mansfield Town.
The Stags are going along just nicely under Nigel Clough in League One, with the Forest legend taking three academy prospects to One Call Stadium during the summer transfer window.
Jamie McDonnell was praised for his Stags efforts earlier this season, and after winning Player of the Year at Colchester last season, he looks like a future EFL star.
Kyle McAdam is another player trying to get into the team at Mansfield after being taken by Clough, helping the Stags knock fierce rivals Chesterfield out of the Carabao Cup earlier this season.
Joe Gardner was injured on his debut for Stags in pre-season, but on Saturday, the Forest loanee returned to the team in style.
Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough.
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
Joe Gardner scores a brilliant goal for Mansfield
The young forward has been stepping up his recovery from the injury sustained in pre-season and on Saturday, he got his Mansfield career up and running.
After coming off the bench in the closing stages against Wycombe last week, the Forest man was given 45 minutes as a substitute.
Gardner capped his first proper outing in League One for the Stags with a wonderful goal, running pretty much the full length of the pitch before curling a brilliant effort into the Stevenage net.
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Mansfield are currently in 13th place in League One and after this goalscoring performance, Gardner will be hoping for more minutes under Clough.
What Nigel Clough said about Joe Gardner
After the game, Clough was keen to praise Gardner for the way in which he had bounced back from his injury.
His goal earned Mansfield a big point against a team who have started the 2025/26 campaign extremely well.
Speaking on the Forest academy star, he told the Mansfield Chad: “The goal was the highlight of the day, it’s not just running half the length of the pitch, it’s the quality of his finish as well.
“Joe is another one we’ve seen so little of because of the injury all those months ago at Sligo. It was a wonderful finish and a wonderful goal.”
Gardner will hope for more game time when the Stags go to Port Vale next Saturday.