(Photo: Richard Parkes)
By Chris Dunlavy
NEXT time Jose Mourinho starts whingeing about fatigue and fixture congestion, the Manchester United boss should have a word with Rhys Bennett.
Unlike any of Mourinho's malingering millionaires, the Mansfield defender has played EVERY minute of EVERY game in EVERY competition this season.
That's 38 League Two games, six in the Checkatrade Trophy and one each in the FA Cup and EFL Cup.
It adds up to a grand total of 4,140 minutes.
And with Steve Evans' Stags sitting ninth in the table pre-weekend, Bennett is aiming for 5,130. That's eight more league games, two play-off semis and the final at Wembley on May 28!
“If I can play every minute of the season and win promotion at the end of it, I think you could say I've earned my summer holiday,” laughs Bennett, who was signed from Rochdale in June after four seasons at Spotland.
“I knew I'd played every game, but it wasn't until the EFL tweeted the stats this week that I really stopped and thought ‘Yeah, that's decent'.
“Obviously. there could be teams who've played more injury time or had better cup runs, but in terms of the minutes available I'm on 100 per cent.
“I've got a good few friends in football and some of them got in touch.
“They were like ‘How are your legs? Aren't they hanging off?' But they're not. I actually feel perfectly all right. And I'm quite an athletic player, always up and down the pitch.
“It's great for me because I played only 18 times last season through injuries and niggles.
“Now, let's see if I can keep it going to the end of the season.”
The 25-year-old also paid tribute to manager Evans, who replaced Adam Murray in November with the Stags lying 18th in the table.
The former Rotherham and Leeds boss has since won 12 of his 25 games.
“He's got a lot of experience,” adds Bennett, who won promotion from League Two with Rochdale in 2014.
“That's nothing against Adam, who is a very talented young manager.
“But the gaffer has changed little things, brought in new players who've added that extra bit of quality to the squad. We went unbeaten for nine or ten games.
“All of that has instilled a belief that we are good players and, if we perform to our maximum, we will win games.
“He's also got the fans behind us.
“We've probably doubled the attendances. We've got a singing section. He's done nights where fans can go and ask him questions.
“He's brought everyone – players, fans and staff – a lot closer.”
Time on their hands – Who leads the way?
Rhys Bennett is one of just four outfield players in the EFL to have played every minute of every game for his club this season. The others are Bristol City centre-back Aden Flint, Walsall's on-loan Southampton stopper Jason McCarthy and Northampton defender David Buchanan.
Buchanan also leads the way in terms of most time on the pitch. The 30-year-old has played 4,230 minutes this season, joint highest alongside Scunthorpe's Scottish centre-back Murray Wallace.
Reading full-back Chris Gunter played 66 times last season as Wales reached the final of Euro 2016 and has missed just 61 minutes of the current campaign. If the Royals reach the play-off final – and Gunter plays in Wales' next two fixtures – the 27-year-old will finish the season with 58 appearances.
Theoretically, the most games any player could play in a single season is 72 – that's 6,420 minutes. However it would entail a League One or Two side winning both major Cup finals, the Checkatrade Trophy and promotion through the play-offs!
