Fresh from a two-week hiatus corresponding with the November international break, promotion-chasing Mansfield Town host mid-table Bristol Rovers in Saturday afternoon's League One scrap.
Nigel Clough's side were on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline against Wrexham last time out, while their upcoming foes have had a week to reflect on a 1-1 draw versus Crawley Town.
Match preview
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With at least two games in hand on every team in the playoff places - a quartet comprising Wrexham, Stockport County, Barnsley and Lincoln City - Mansfield no doubt have the psychological advantage in the top-six chase, but they did themselves no favours a fortnight ago.
Indeed, Wrexham's Ryan Barnett needed just six minutes to draw first blood in their most recent League One showdown, and that was all she wrote at the Racecourse Ground, as Mansfield's four-match winning run away from home came to an abrupt end.
Nevertheless, a playoff place is still in the Stags' hands as they occupy seventh place in the League One rankings, only two points worse off than Lincoln City and Barnsley with two games in hand on both, and they would also supplant third-placed Wrexham should they win their two outstanding matches.
As exceptional as Mansfield's away form has been during the autumn period, Clough's side have not been as indomitable on familiar territory; their record of 12 points from seven matches at Field Mill is only the 12th-best in the current campaign.
Neither of the hosts' last two games on home soil has ended in victory - a 1-0 loss to Stevenage preceding a 1-1 draw with title-chasing Birmingham City - although even challenging for a spot in the Championship after spending 2023-24 in the League Two doldrums is an admirable feat indeed.
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Bristol Rovers' aspirations for the remainder of 2024-25 will likely be far more modest than Mansfield's, but the Pirates have started November as they mean to go on, stringing together a three-match unbeaten run from their three fixtures in all tournaments this month.
After a nervy extra-time success over Weston-Super-Mare in the FA Cup, Matt Taylor's men held playoff hopefuls Lincoln to a 1-1 stalemate on their own turf before a scoreless affair with Crawley Town, who had almost two-thirds of the ball but could find that penetrative touch.
That fixture was just one of five League One matches to take place during the international break, but entertainment value was low across the board; two of the other fixtures also finished goalless, and there were just three goals to be had in the two that did not finish 0-0.
Now on a three-match winless sequence in the third tier, Bristol Rovers reside in an unremarkable 14th place in the table - five points clear of the relegation zone and five adrift of the top 10 - and five of their last six away matches in the competition have ended in defeat.
The visitors have traditionally had Mansfield's number in the 21st century, though, only losing two of their last 13 competitive matches, although one of those defeats was a 2-1 reverse at the Stags' home in the 2021-22 League Two campaign.
Team News
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Injury was added to insult for Mansfield during their loss to Wrexham, as first-choice goalkeeper Christy Pym had to be taken off in the first half with a shoulder injury, and Clough is not optimistic about his chances of starting this one.
However, Clough has placed his full faith in 38-year-old Scott Flinders to produce the goods in goal for a couple of matches, and the Mansfield boss is confident that he will have almost everybody else available.
Stephen McLaughlin returned to training at the start of the week after missing the Wrexham loss due to hamstring and back tightness, while Rhys Oates is in the last stages of his recovery from a January knee injury but will not be thrown back into action just yet.
Bristol Rovers did not pick up any new blows in their draw with Crawley last week, though, and Taylor can now recall Taylor Moore to the backline after the 27-year-old sat out that goalless stalemate through suspension.
Moore had enjoyed a string of starts at right-back before sitting on the naughty step and could now demote Bryant Bilongo to the bench, as Taylor reshuffles his backline to start Clinton Mola on the left-hand side.
The Gas' options on that flank are slightly limited by an injury to ex-Arsenal product and on-loan Aston Villa man Lino Sousa, who is set to spend a month out with a hamstring problem, but Ruel Sotiriou is back from international duty with Cyprus.
Mansfield Town possible starting lineup:
Flinders; Oshilaja, Cargill, Flint; Hewitt, Baccus, Lewis, Reed, Blake-Tracy; Evans, Gregory
Bristol Rovers possible starting lineup:
Griffiths; Moore, Taylor, Wilson, Mola; Lindsay, Conteh; Forde, McCormick, Sinclair; Sotiriou
We say: Mansfield Town 1-0 Bristol Rovers
With 11 League One losses on the road in total in 2024, only Cambridge United (13) have performed worse on rival soil than Bristol Rovers in the current calendar year, and the Gas' pitiful attacking display against relegation-threatened Crawley will hardly inspire optimism for Saturday.
A two-week reset arguably came at the perfect time for Mansfield after a rare road setback, and Clough's men have our vote to reignite their promotion charge with a slender success here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
