Having picked up a first three points of the season against Barrow last weekend, County will be looking to build on that as we travel to Mansfield Town on Saturday, looking for what would be a statement win on the road.
Louie Barry’s first goal in a County shirt saw the Hatters finally get off the mark in League Two at the fourth attempt, inflicting a first league defeat of the season on Pete Wild’s side in the process.
That result has lifted us into 16th in the fledgling league table, on four points – two points behind opponents Mansfield. A first win at the One Call Stadium since 2003 could see County climb into the top half for the first time this season.
Nigel Clough’s Mansfield maintained their unbeaten start to the campaign at Grimsby last weekend; former County striker Rhys Oates’ second-half strike rescuing a point for the Stags at Blundell Park. That result leaves them with one win and three draws from their opening four, placing them in 10th – three points off the automatic promotion places.
Our Opponents:
Saturday’s game will see the losing finalists in the last two League Two play-off campaigns go head-to-head; Mansfield having reached the showpiece final themselves in 2022, only to be beaten 3-0 at Wembley by Port Vale.
Despite a mid-season injury crisis, the Nottinghamshire side managed to keep themselves in and around the play-off positions until the very end, but a leaky defence and lack of consistency proved to be their undoing.
On their day, Mansfield proved themselves to be one of the most formidable outfits in League Two last season, epitomised by a stunning 4-0 win away at eventual play-off winners Carlisle United in February, as well as in wins against County and Stevenage.
But this was offset by some alarmingly heavy defeats throughout the campaign, losing 5-2 at home twice against Salford City and Swindon Town, as well as a 3-0 hammering at struggling Harrogate Town early in the campaign. It took until February for the side to record three league wins in a row, and that remained the only time they managed more than back-to-back victories.
Despite that, they remained very much in the play-off hunt with just three games remaining, sitting outside the top seven on goal difference with a game in hand, after a run of just two defeats in 18 games.
It all went wrong from there though for Nigel Clough’s men, who followed up a 2-1 home defeat to newly crowned champions, Leyton Orient by losing again at home to bogey side Harrogate Town; their seventh game without a win against the Yorkshire outfit, to leave their play-off hopes hanging by a thread.
A 2-0 victory at Colchester United in the final game of the season wasn’t enough, as the Stags missed out on a top seven finish by a goal difference margin of one. Just one more goal in their game, or another for Gillingham in their win at Salford, would have seen County face them in the play-off semi-finals, rather than the Ammies.
Over the Summer:
Despite missing out, albeit by the barest of margins, boss Clough was handed a new one-year deal in the Summer, backed by the club to guide them into League One in his third full season in charge.
So far, the 57-year-old has retained the majority of last season’s squad over the Summer, whilst also making the loan deals for goalkeeper Christy Pym and top scorer Will Swan permanent, for undisclosed fees from Peterborough and Nottingham Forest respectively.
Having finished as the joint-top scorers in League Two last season with 72, it’s at the other end where the club have really looked to strengthen over the summer – their 55 goals conceded was the joint-worst defensive record in the top ten.
Aden Flint has added real pedigree and experience at the back, having won promotion with Sheffield Wednesday last season, whilst fellow centre-back Bailey Cargill won the League Two title with Forest Green Rovers just two seasons ago.
Former County man Calum MacDonald has been brought in at left-back after leaving Bristol Rovers in the Summer, alongside Wales U21 international Aaron Lewis, who found the net against County whilst playing for Newport last season.
Three of those four started on opening day, with MacDonald sent off in the second half as the Stags threw away a 2-0 lead to draw at Crewe Alexandra.
Having bounced back impressively the following weekend with a 3-0 win over Morecambe at the One Call Stadium, they have since drawn games away at Doncaster and Grimsby to leave them in tenth – although, like County, the stats suggest their performances have not necessarily been fairly reflected in their results so far. They’ll be looking to put that right back on home turf this weekend.
Match Stats:
- Mansfield have proved to be a bogey side for County in recent years, with just one win in our last eight games against the Stags. Dave Challinor was playing the last time we won at the One Call Stadium – a 2-1 win in the LDV Vans Trophy.
- This will be the 88th competitive meeting between the two sides. County have won 31 of the previous encounters, with Mansfield winning 35.
- Only Northampton Town had a better away record in League Two than Mansfield last season, picking up 40 points on the road, but their 35 points racked up at the One Call Stadium ranked them 13th in the home form table.
