The Stag Season

MANSFIELD Town are a side who started the season with lofty ambitions but things have not transpired that way, and Saturday’s Sky Bet League Two clash with Argyle represents a chance for both sides to get their seasons going.

The Pilgrims sit five places and two points ahead of the Stags. The Mansfield Wins so far this season have come against the next team we will face at home, Scunthorpe United, and Carlisle United, both by the same 2-0 score line

They gained a very respectable point at Rodney Parade against Newport County in an entertaining 2-2 draw on the first day of the season. In fact, a 2-2 scoreline involving the Stags has been very common, occurring four times so far.

These outcomes came against Newport, back to back games with Morecambe (once in the Carabao Cup, and lost 6-5 on penalties) and most recently away to Port Vale on September 21. Their other point to date came courtesy of a goalless draw at home to Stevenage.

Mansfield also suffered defeat via spot-kicks following a 1-1 draw with Everton in the Leasing.com Trophy, where the Premier League side won 4-1 in the shootout.

Mansfield are without a win in three games, gaining one point from nine. In that period, they have only scored twice, in the aforementioned Port Vale game. The others were a 1-0 reverse against Crawley Town and a 4-0 humbling against Cambridge, although they were reduced to 10 men in that fixture.

Possibly a good sign for the Pilgrims is the fact that Mansfield appear to be no better at home than they are away from home, gaining five points on the road and five on their own patch.

One man the Greens will need to be aware of is striker Danny Rose, who has netted seven times this season, and will know manager Ryan Lowe well from his time at Bury last season. Another who will need to be kept at close quarters is Nicky Maynard, a striker who garnered interest from Argyle in the summer.