County face another big test in League 2 this weekend, as we look to bounce back from the disappointment of that last-minute defeat at Doncaster Rovers when we travel to last season’s play-off finalists Mansfield Town.
It looked on Tuesday night like County were going to hold on for a very good point away from home, despite playing over 70 minutes with ten men, thanks to Ryan Rydel’s equaliser, only for Kieran Agard’s stoppage time goal to consign us to a third defeat of the season.
That loss leaves us 18th in the table just four games into the season, five points off a play-off spot and three points behind our opponents on Saturday.
Nigel Clough’s Mansfield were the beneficiaries of a red card on Tuesday night, as they came from 2-0 down to beat AFC Wimbledon 5-2 at the One Call Stadium, with five different players on the scoresheet for the Stags.
They currently sit tenth in the table with two wins and two defeats from their opening four games, with both wins coming at the One Call Stadium. They’ll be looking for three points that could see them finish the day in a play-off spot.
Our Opponents:
Mansfield were promoted back to the Football League in 2013, on the same day that County were relegated to the National League North, and have remained in League Two ever since – now in their 10th season at this level.
They came so close to ending that spell a few months ago as they made it all the way to the play-off final in manager Nigel Clough’s first full season in charge, eventually losing 3-0 at Wembley to Port Vale.
It actually looked like they may be exiting the division at the opposite end of the table in the opening months of the season, as they sat in the relegation zone 14 games into the season, after a 12-match winless run which included seven defeats, culminating in a loss away at Exeter.
Having kept faith with former Derby and Burton Albion boss Clough through that tough run, the Stags were rewarded with a remarkable turnaround that saw them win 14 of their next 18 league games, losing just once – a run that included a club record 11 straight home wins.
The final game in that run ironically also came against Exeter, a 2-1 win that saw them climb into the automatic promotion places with 14 games to go, and with games in hand on the sides around them.
Unfortunately for the Nottinghamshire side they were unable to maintain that sensational form until the end of the season, and just six wins from the next 13 games meant promotion was out of their hands going into the final day of the season.
They were however one of five teams still in with a chance of grabbing the third and final automatic promotion place on a dramatic final day, alongside Northampton, Bristol Rovers, Swindon Town and Port Vale. They could even have finished the day outside the play-off places if they had lost and other results went against them, but a 2-2 draw with eventual champions Forest Green Rovers saw them finish the season in 7th.
In the play-off semi-finals they took on a Northampton side that missed out on automatic promotion via goals scored, beating them 2-1 at home in the first-leg before Stephen McLaughlin’s strike in the second leg booked their place at Wembley, winning 3-1 on aggregate.
The final proved one step too far however, as they missed out on a first return to the third tier since 2003 – Port Vale triumphing 3-0 against a Mansfield side that finished with ten men, to leave Clough’s side facing another season in League Two.
The Club have retained the majority of the side that came so close last season, with only one summer signing, former Peterborough goalkeeper Christy Pym, starting in that midweek win against Wimbledon. Two more, defender Will Swan and midfielder Anthony Hartigan, were involved from the bench, but other than that the core of last year’s team have remained.
After understandably being billed as one of the favourites for promotion this season, it’s been a somewhat indifferent start to the season from them so far, with two good home wins against Wimbledon and Tranmere contrasted with frustrating defeats in both of their away games, at Salford and Leyton Orient.
One to watch:
A man that will be familiar to both manager and fans alike for County on Saturday will be Mansfield forward Rhys Oates. Oates, a one-time County loanee, was a key part of Dave Challinor’s promotion-winning side in 2020/21, winning their Player of the Year award and scoring the winner at Edgeley Park in the play-off semi-final that year.
The 27-year-old completed a move to Mansfield that same Summer and was their top scorer in League 2 last season, scoring ten times – including one in their play-off semi-final win against Northampton. The forward got up and running for the season on Tuesday night, scoring his side’s first goal from the penalty spot.
Match Stats:
- Field Mill has not been a happy hunting ground in recent years for County, last winning there in the league in September 1983 – we have lost eight of our last nine league visits to the ground.
- County haven’t lost three successive away league games since September 2019
- All six of County’s goals in all competitions so far this season have come in the second-half of games.
- Our first six goals in all competitions this season have been scored by six different players (Sarcevic, Madden, Camps, Jennings, Wootton, Rydel). This is the first time that has happened since the 1999/2000 season, when David Smith, Kevin Cooper, Brett Angell, Sean Connelly, Tony Dinning and Colin Woodthorpe scored our goals.
