League Two latest: Mansfield Town boss slams 'ridiculous' early start to 2022/23 season

The League Two campaign will get underway on July 30 – a week earlier than normal – due to the winter World Cup in Qatar.

Mansfield lost in Saturday’s play-off final to Port Vale and Clough feels the quick turnaround puts his club at a disadvantage.

“That is a week earlier than we should be,” said Clough.

“Again we are having something imposed on us because of a World Cup in Qatar that will not affect us one bit.

“But we are having to start a week early in League Two because of a World Cup. It is absolutely ridiculous. We are the one team who has got to a final and lost.

“So we are at a slight disadvantage straight away. The others will all have had two or three weeks extra to prepare.

“The only other one who will have a disadvantage is the one who comes up from the Conference through the play-offs as they are even later.

“That will be between Solihull and Grimsby and for the winner you're talking about eight weeks from actually finishing the season to starting again.

“We have to get on with it, though, and our aim will be to have another successful season and try to go that one step further."

A more condensed World Cup schedule than usual will see the tournament held between November 21 and December 18.

The Championship will pause for the group stages and first knockout round but League One and League Two will carry on as normal.

All EFL fixtures will be subject to existing international postponement criteria, allowing clubs to reschedule matches if they have three or more call-ups.

The final round of fixtures in the EFL will take place on the weekend of Saturday, May 6.

The fixtures for the 2022/23 season will be published on Thursday, June 23.

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