Stevenage welcome fellow promotion hopefuls Mansfield Town to The Lamex Stadium for a crucial Sky Bet League Two clash…
Boro sit second in the table and just five points behind league leaders, Leyton Orient. After picking up an incredible nine wins from ten league games at The Lamex Stadium so far this campaign, Stevenage currently have the best home record in the league.
Last Friday, Boro put on arguably their best performance of the season, with a 5-0 thrashing over Barrow.
Mansfield Town were awarded a trip to Wembley Stadium at the end of last season, with a place in Sky Bet League One up for grabs. Unfortunately for the Stags, Port Vale won 3-0 on the day and Nigel Clough’s side remained in Sky Bet League Two. So far this campaign, Mansfield have put up a good fight in hopes of another promotion push. They sit seventh, having won ten from twenty league games.
Mansfield’s last few league fixtures have produced a mixed bag of results. Last weekend, The Stags hosted Colchester United and won 2-1 through a Will Swan equaliser and a last-minute winner from Lucas Akins. Before that, though, Clough’s side suffered a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Harrogate Town. Will Swan is Mansfield top scorer this season, netting seven from eighteen matches.
Nigel Clough took over as Stags boss in November 2020 and has so far produced a 45.1% win-rate. He has previously managed Burton Albion, Sheffield United, and Derby County, so he has plenty of managerial experience. As a player, Clough scored over 100 goals for Nottingham Forest under his father, Brian Clough. He also appeared for Liverpool, Manchester City, Sheffield Wednesday and Burton Albion. Clough also has fourteen caps for England.
Mansfield and Stevenage have been very familiar with each other over the last decade, having met on nineteen occasions, with Boro winning six. The sides first met in The Conference back in 2008 on a day which proved successful for Stevenage legends, as Mitchell Cole, Michael Bostwick and Steve Morison all got their names on the scoresheet.
The first Football League encounter between the two clubs was in 2014 as Charlie Lee and Chris Whelpdale contributed to a 3-0 victory over The Stags at The Lamex Stadium. However, Boro have struggled against Mansfield in more recent times, failing to get one over on the Stags in the last five meetings.
Anthony Backhouse has been appointed Match Referee for tomorrow’s fixture, with Stephen Brown and Michael Webb as Assistants and Sam Purkiss as Fourth Official. Backhouse has dished out forty four yellow cards in fifteen games so far this campaign.
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