GRAHAM Coughlan has been announced as Mansfield Town's new manager.

Coughlan spent close to eight years coaching at Southend United before leaving in January 2018 and joining Bristol Rovers the following season.

But, after taking the Pirates up to fourth in the League One standings, Coughlan has now opted to team up the Stags who are currently 18th in the League Two table.

However, the switch has allowed Coughlan to work nearer to his family in Sheffield and he is excited to be taking charge of the Stags.

“This is a massive opportunity and a massive chance for me," the Irishman told Mansfield Town's official website. 

"The main attraction was the ambition of the chairman [John Radford].

“How he spoke, the ambition he was displaying, the facilities at the club, it was a tremendous and huge opportunity to take on a football club and try to get them promoted.

“I’ve gone across to the training ground and I think the facilities are better than a lot of Championship clubs’ facilities – they are very impressive.

“The opportunity to manage a club like Mansfield Town, with the ambition at this football club, the facilities, and of course to be able to be at home with my wife and kids, was an absolute mammoth attraction. I’ve been living in this part of the country for the best part of 20 years and it’s an honest, hard-working area – that’s what I am and that’s the background I’ve come from."

Coughlan, who bossed Bristol Rovers to a 4-2 win against Southend United earlier this month, won 25 of his 56 games in charge of the Pirates.

But he is now keen to kick-start the Stags' season.

"We will be honest, we will be hard-working and we will wear that jersey with pride," said Coughlan.

"That’s all I ask."