Promotion contending Mansfield face struggling Cheltenham

Mansfield Town take on Cheltenham Town at the One Call Stadium on Saturday knowing the importance of a victory.

The Stags could cut the gap between themselves and Sky Bet League Two leaders Lincoln City to just two points with a victory; a win for 17th-placed Cheltenham would further cement their mid-table position.

Last time out, Mansfield came out on top after a hard fought game against a tough Forest Green 1-0. Tyler Walker scored the only goal of the game on that day, extending his goal tally for the season to 17.

Cheltenham make the trip to the midlands off the back of two consecutive victories, beating Cambridge United and Port Vale, 2-0 and 1-0 respectively.

Team News

Mansfield will be without strikers: Danny Rose (jaw injury), Jordan Graham (ligament damage), Craig Davies (ankle injury) and Tyler Walker is suspended for two games due to a straight red he picked up in the game against Forest Green. Which means that David Flitcroft will only have one fit striker to pick from in Nicky Ajose.

Cheltenham are without any serious injury dilemmas ahead of the trip to the Midlands.

The manager’s take

Cheltenham Town manager, Michael Duff, recounted the two side’s meeting earlier this season, a 2-2 draw.

“It was only the second or third game we’d played with this formation, while they have been doing it a long time. The players turned up, delivered a good performance and showed resilience and a good mentality and were unlucky really. We held on in the second half after they changed to a 4-3-3. It was a tough one to take in the end, but we’ve had a few for and a few against, but if we can deliver another performance like the one we did at home, hopefully it’ll be another good game.”

Mansfield boss David Flitcroft set a ‘challenge’ for his men to become goal threats in the absence of their top goalscorer:

“We’re without Tyler but now it’s a case of the rest of the squad having to step up in his absence. We have to make sure that we get goals from around the pitch.

“It’s just about getting players into goal-scoring positions. It’s a team thing, that as the manager I am responsible for.

“It’s a big opportunity for the players and Nicky [Ajose] is no different. He wanted to come [here]and make an impact, and show everyone what a good player he is.

“I’ve put the challenge down to all of the players to fill the big boots of Tyler’s absence.”