Bristol Rovers

When this seasons fixture list came out there was one specific encounter that stood out for Lee Mansell and that was his return to Plainmoor to take on Torquay United.

“Of course it was the game I was looking out for and it is crazy that the return game follows a week later.

“I had a great time there [Torquay] with a majority of the best things that have happened in my career happened at Torquay.

“I got to a couple of finals, had four play-off campaigns as well and suffered relegation twice but all good things come to an end. I’ve come to a really good club now and I’m really enjoying myself.

Mansell faces the challenge of taking to the pitch at Plainmoor as an opposition player and said it would be a very strange experience.

“Yeah, it will be a very odd one. After eight years there you sort of become part of the fixtures and fittings.

“It will definitely be surreal, but on the other hand it is another thing to experience and look forward too.

In Friday night’s encounter with Gateshead, Mansell scored the free kick to bring Rovers level for the second time in the match before going onto gather all three points and Lee was pretty happy with his effort.

“I caught it sweet and I think it helped me that they put someone smaller on that side of the wall.

“We always weigh things up and you need to notice certain aspects like where the wall is, where the keeper is standing and once we saw the gap the keeper had left I was always going to take it.

Stuart Sinclair has become a fans favourite since arriving in the summer because of his work-rate and desire which has earned him the nickname of the ‘Energizer Bunny’ from Mansell.

“It is brilliant playing with him, you seldom come across players like him throughout your career and his personality is infectious and I think that happened on Friday.

“Friday night was Stuart’s game, you may only get one or two games like that a season where one player takes the game by the scruff of the neck and Stuart definitely did that against Gateshead.

“I thought he was outstanding all over the park but especially in the second half he was the one who gave us that driving force.

On Friday night the BT Sport cameras caught Mansell plant a kiss on an opposition player but the Rovers midfielder says looking back “it was a bit daft”

“I’ve done silly things like that before, we could have had a clash of heads where someone could get sent off so all I did was try to diffuse the situation.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever been booked for kissing anyone!

“It was a spur of the moment thing and all the lads had a bit of a laugh about it afterwards but I guess it can be put down to another one of the daft things I’ve done on the football pitch.