Will it be another home win for Mansfield Town against Tranmere Rovers?

The Stags kick off their league campaign with a home match against Tranmere Rovers. The amber and blues are unbeaten against Rovers in League Two and they will look to continue that on Saturday.

The new League Two season is upon us and what a relief it is for all lower league fans after it was stopped in March due to the Coronavirus.

24 teams will all battle it out to get out of the division and to go one step higher in the footballing pyramid. The Stags haven’t been in the third tier since 2003 and narrowly missed going up into the division after losing to Newport on penalties two years ago.

Mansfield’s opposition this weekend, Tranmere Rovers, were the team that beat Newport at Wembley in 2018 to secure promotion into League One. A terrible season followed and they found themselves getting relegated back t0 the fourth division of English Football.

The One Call Stadium has seen two matches between the two teams with Mansfield victorious on both occasions. A 1-0 win back in 2015 and the most recent victory in 2019 where the amber and blues ran out 3-0 victors on the day.

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The Stags have one absentee for the clash, as defender Joe Riley continues his recovery from an ACL injury.

For the visitors, Corey Blackett-Taylor is a doubt for the clash after he came off in the first-half of Tranmere’s recent Carabao Cup clash against Harrogate Town.

Mansfield Town manager Graham Coughlan has called on his players to ‘signal their intent’ for the season in this Saturday’s Sky Bet League Two curtain-raiser at home to Tranmere Rovers.

“We’ve brought in a brand new squad and it [lockdown]has given us a lot of time to do our homework on the squad and get the players in,” he told the club’s media team.

“I’ve missed football – I missed the club, I missed the players and I missed getting my teeth stuck into the job that was in hand.

“I’m really excited [for the league season]. The two games [against Preston and Man City under-21s]were tough opponents, but I’m really happy with my squad, individually and collectively.

“What we’ve put together, I’m really happy with the players, the character and the quality we’ve put together.

“Now it’s about coming together, working together and putting the final touches to it. I’m really enthused, excited and can’t wait to get going. All of the pre-season work is done now and I can’t wait for three o’clock on Saturday.”

Tranmere Rovers manager Mike Jackson has insisted that team spirit will hold the key to a successful season in Sky Bet League Two this campaign. 

“The biggest thing, for me, is that whenever I’ve ever had a team that has done well in League Two, there has been team spirit. That has always been the case,” he said to the media.

“On top of that, you need that sprinkling of talent, you need to be good in both 18-yard boxes at this level and good at set-plays.

“That never changes. But the biggest thing for me is that team spirit. I know you can say that’s easy, but it’s not. That is the hardest thing to get and the easiest thing to lose.

“You need talented players within that to be able to bring you forward and people who can deal with setbacks as well, because you will get them along the way. You will get ups and downs, but can the group deal with those setbacks? That’s our job, collectively, to be able to do that in games.”

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The Stags were last in action on Tuesday evening against Manchester City under-21s in the EFL Trophy, with away side running out 3-0 winners. A first-half goal from Adrian Bernabe and a second-half brace from Liam Delap saw the amber and blues with a tough pill to swallow.

Tranmere were also in EFL Trophy action last time out, losing out on an extra point via a penalty shootout loss against Port Vale.