Having already made their best start to an EFL season since 1976, County travel to Mansfield Town on Saturday looking to make it four wins from four in League One.
It was rinse and repeat for Dave Challinor’s side at Edgeley Park last time out, as a goal either side of half-time from Louie Barry and Kyle Wootton secured a 2-0 win over Bristol Rovers. Those three points ensured County remained top of League One for another week, and the Hatters have yet to concede a single goal in the league this season.
Huddersfield Town and Charlton Athletic are the only other sides in the league with a 100% record still intact – the Terriers travel to Rotherham United in an early kick-off on Saturday, whilst Charlton go to Reading.
Opponents Mansfield, promoted alongside County last season after a 3rd place finish in League Two, suffered their first league defeat of the season last Saturday, as the Stags were hammered 4-1 away at Lincoln City. Nigel Clough’s side are currently 15th in the table, with four points from their opening three games.
Our Opponents:
County and Mansfield Town are no strangers to each other in recent years, with the two clubs both battling it out for promotion from League Two last season.
County ultimately ended up strolling to the League Two title with two games to spare after a late run of eight straight wins, but prior to that the Stags had pushed us all the way in a gripping title scrap – even briefly overtaking us at the top in late February.
Nigel Clough’s side were irresistible at times during the run-in, clocking up 5-1 wins at home to Salford City and away at Bradford City, as well as a crushing 9-2 win at home to Harrogate Town. At one stage in mid-March, they actually sat five points clear of County at the top, although Dave Challinor’s side retained two games in hand.
Despite that ability to blow teams away on their day, the truth is that whilst County’s own form stuttered in February and March, Mansfield were never really able to take advantage of any slip-ups. In amongst those big wins were frustrating defeats away at Walsall, Tranmere Rovers and Wrexham, as well as a heavy 4-1 loss at home to Crawley Town.
All of that meant that once County reclaimed form and top spot on Good Friday, Dave Challinor’s side never looked back. For Mansfield, suddenly on a run of only one win in five, attention turned to securing a top three place with an in-form MK Dons side closing in fast.
With only four games remaining and just two points separating them, the two sides then met at Stadium MK with the pressure firmly on Clough’s men. They fell behind early on in that game, but produced a brilliant second-half display to win 4-1, all but securing a promotion which was officially confirmed three days later with a victory against Accrington Stanley.
It sealed a return to League One for the first time in 21 years for Mansfield, after several near misses in recent years – including losing the League Two play-off final in 2022 under Clough, who was named as the 2023/24 League Two Manager of the Season.
Over the Summer, the Club have retained much of the squad which earned them promotion last season, with just six new additions coming through the door so far. Australian midfielder Keanu Baccus, brought in from St Mirren, has had an impressive start to life in England, whilst 35-year-old former Sheffield Wednesday and Millwall forward Lee Gregory brings real experience up front.
Sharing the goals with Gregory will be Welsh forward Will Evans, brought in for an undisclosed fee from Newport County this month after a prolific season in League Two that saw him score 21 times for the Exiles.
Baccus and Gregory in particular played a key role as Mansfield got their season off to a perfect start on opening night, combining for the Stags’ second goal as they won 2-1 away at last season’s play-off semi-finalists, Barnsley.
It’s been tougher for them since then, however, requiring a stoppage-time penalty to salvage a 3-3 draw with Burton Albion in their first home game of the season before suffering that heavy loss away at Lincoln last time out.
Much like County, they have been depleted by injuries in recent weeks, but have a strong recent record against Dave Challinor’s side – winning three of the four meetings between the two since our return to the EFL in 2022.
Match Stats:
- County are winless in the last eight meetings between the two sides, losing seven of them. Our last win against the Stags was in April 2008 – a 2-1 win at Edgeley Park in League Two.
- Our last away league win at Mansfield came all the way back in September 1983, when Micky Quinn and Tommy Sword were on the scoresheet for County.
- The last time County won the first four league games of an EFL season also came in 1976 under Eddie Quigley. That run was also achieved without conceding a single goal.
- Louie Barry will be looking to become the first County player to score in the first four games of an EFL season since Andy Preece in 1993.
