Stags Hope To Pick Form Up In Cup

Nigel Clough’s Mansfield Town side have been faltering of late in EFL League One, going from picking up maximum points in five straight wins (including four-in-a-row) during September/October, to losing their last three and picking up just four points from their last six outings, ahead of their FA Cup Second Round trip to Stevenage Borough this weekend.

The last three of those victories were all 2-0, against Northampton Town and Crawley Town away, and Blackpool at home, however, since the draw with Birmingham in late October, and cup successes withstanding, the Stags have endured consecutive, 1-0 losses.

The last of these, this past midweek at home to leaders Wycombe Wanderers, opened up a fourteen-point gap between the flying Chairboys, and the ailing Stags, who slop to tenth; Clough’s side do have a game or two in hand on sides above them, which, going their way, would put them back into playoff contention.

Prior to the defeat against Wycombe, they notching a last-gasp winner to register what was a tenth straight success for the leaders when captain Luke Leahy sent a cross-shot past Christy Pym in the Stags goal, in the dying seconds.

Clough said to BBC Radio Nottingham ahead of the game, that: “I just think we are getting used to the league.

“The frustrations of Saturday (home to Bristol Rovers), and the Wrexham and Stevenage games (all 1-0 losses), is that it’s the reality of us being in League One.

“Teams will come and maybe not have as much of the ball as us, and not create as much as us but because they have the quality in the final third and they are also better defensively than what we were up against last season, then we are going to have these results.”

MANSFIELD TOWN (versus Wycombe Wanderers): Christy Pym, Deji Olishaja, Aden Flint, Baily Cargill (Jordan Bowery, 46), Elliott Hewitt, Hiram Boateng, George Maris (Kevin Baccus, 68), Aaron Lewis (Alfie Kilgour, 90), Frazer Blake-Tracey (Stephen McLaughlin, 82), Lucas Akins, Will Evans (Ben Waine, 82)

Having stated that Leahy’s last gasp winner for the Chairboys was “a fluke” and “unbelievable” in the manner, whilst adding his own charges were, understandably, “devastated,” the Stags boss added (to BCC Radio Nottingham afterwards) of his sides’ recent misfortunes;

“Three 1-0 defeats, three good performances against three good sides and we could have won all three.

“It’s cruel. If someone rips you to pieces and puts one in the top corner, you hold your hands up, but concede a fluke like that (against Wycombe) and there’s nothing you can do about it.

“Three games – it doesn’t half get to you, but we must keep doing what we’re good at.”

Despite those successive defeats, the Stags now have that of Aaron Lewis, Jordan Bowery, Deji Oshilaja, and Will Evans, all up to nineteen appearances this campaign; Hiram Boateng has made eighteen, whilst that of Christy Pym, Stephen McLaughlin, Kevin Baccus, Elliott Hewitt, and Stephen Quinn have also made more than fifteen appearances.

There has however been a lack of firepower, scoring goals this time around with only five occasions they having scored two or more goals in a (league) game; Lee Gregory leads the way in scoring charts with seven, Will Evans has five, and Ben Quinn three, along with another four players on two apiece.

In fact, the one occasion they have scored three, was the 3-3 draw with Burton Albion, back in mid-August; one of those was an own-goal, and the other, a 97-minute penalty from Gregory to earn a point.

There’s time to things back to a positive situation for Clough et al though, the seasons’ half-way point not coming until the turn of the year.

Before then, and with an FA Cup Second Round clash away to fellow League One side, Stevenage Borough, this weekend (30 November), the Stags face a hectic December with some six matches scheduled.

The first of those, away to Bolton Wanderers (Tues. 3 December), then it’s home to Huddersfield Town (7 December), away to Charlton Athletic (14 December), and home to Rotherham United (21 December), in the run-up to Christmas; Boxing Day will see the Stags make the 141-mile round-trip to Peterborough United, before finishing the year with another away day, this at Reading (29 December).

First up though, it’s a trip to the Lamex Stadium, home of Stevenage Borough, in the FA Cup Second Round (30 November), the hosts sitting seventeenth in League One, and on a five-match winless streak in the league – their last league win, 1-0 against Mansfield Town in mid-October.

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