Mansfield Town will look to strengthen their hold on a playoff spot in League Two when they welcome Stevenage to Field Mill on Tuesday evening with kickoff at 9:45 pm.
Tuesday’s game will be Mansfield Town’s second in four days, and the League Two club knocked off Crawley Town on Saturday, with goals from James Murphy and Lucas Akins.
The victory moved Mansfield into sixth place in the table, and the team is two points clear of seventh-place Sutton United. There are only four points between sixth and 10th place in the fourth tier, so the playoff race will likely go right to the wire.
The Stags have a tough end to their season on paper—they will play Salford City and Forest Green Rovers in their final two matches—but they hope to finish in the top six for the first time since 2013. Although Mansfield was promoted from League Two in 2013, they have never played in League One.
Meanwhile, Stevenage will enter Tuesday’s clash with the Cobblers off the back of a 2-0 win over Tranmere Rovers on Saturday, which extended its unbeaten run to four games in recent weeks.
Since losing at home to Oldham Athletic back in early October, Steve Evans’ side has overcome Colchester United, Rochdale and Tranmere, and Scunthorpe United.
Mansfield vs. Stevenage Head to Head
Both sides have 18 games against each other, with hosts taking nine wins while visitors with six wins. Here is a look at their previous encounters:
Home
- Mansfield 2-0 Crawley Town
- Carlisle Town 1-0 Mansfield
- Mansfield 2-3 Sutton United
- Scunthorpe 0-4 Mansfield
- Forest Green Rovers 1-0 Mansfield
Away
- Stevenage 2-0 Tranmere Rovers
- Scunthorpe 1-1 Stevenage
- Stevenage 1-0 Rochdale
- Colchester 0-2 Stevenage
- Stevenage 0-1 Oldham Athletic
Mansfield Town Team News
Mansfield coach Adam Murray has welcomed back leading goalscorer Rhys Oates for the visit of Crawley Town, with the striker overcoming a thigh problem in time to start. John-Joe O’Toole and George Maris will also keep their starting berths, with Oli Hawkins, Jordan Bowery, and Ryan Stirk on the bench.
Stevenage Team News
As for Stevenage, Arthur Read should keep his place in the side ahead of Chris Lines, and the visitors also did not have any fitness concerns during their clash with Tranmere.
Prediction and Odds
The pressure is off Stevenage, which should help the hosts, and we predict that Clough’s team will win by two goals.
- Mansfield Win
- Correct Score: 2-0
- Goals Under 2.5
