Mansfield Town travel to Sunderland in the hunt of a glorious FA Cup run

Mansfield Town have a tough task ahead of them as the Amber and Blues travel to the Stadium of Light to face Sunderland in the First Round of the FA Cup.

It’s been a disappointing start for the Stags with seven draws and four defeats. They are still hunt for a new manager after sacking Graham Coughlan nearly two weeks ago.

Richard Cooper has inherited the job as a caretaker manager and we’ve seen glimmers of improvement in regards to performances.

Last weekend, they faced Walsall at the One Call Stadium and managed a 1-1 draw against the Saddlers.

Nicky Maynard opened the scoring after George Lapslie’s miscued shot. The striker slotted the ball past Luke Roberts for his first goal of the League Two campaign.

It didn’t take too long for the visitors to get back into the game. Elijah Adebayo scored from a low cross created by George Nurse and equalised in the 48th minute.

Mansfield could have gone on to win it, but at the same time, could have lost it as players from both sides were unable to take their big chances.

During midweek, Mansfield Town travelled to Greater Manchester to face Bolton Wanderers for the first time since 1993 in the old Second Division.

The first-half lacked any real chances as the teams went into the break level at 0-0.

Mansfield went into the lead just before the hour mark. Stephen McLaughlin’s corner was met by George Lapslie with the midfielder netting his first goal for the club in the process.

The Stags found themselves in yet another situation of holding onto the one-goal lead till the full-time whistle and yet again they failed to do so.

Antoni Sarcevic gave Bolton the equaliser in the 90th minute and split the points between the sides.

Sunderland, on the other hand, have had a great start to their season in League One only losing one game so far.

Last weekend, the Black Cats beat ten-man Gillingham at Priestfield Stadium. Alex MacDonald got sent off for the home side after the hour mark and Chris Maguire and Lyndon Gooch scored in the final ten minutes to give Sunderland the victory.

The League One club were also victorious during midweek as they took on Ipswich Town at the Stadium of Light.

Under the lights, the Black Cats came out as 2-1 victors. Charlie Wyke gave the home side the lead after eight minutes, but going into half-time it was 1-1 after Jack Lankester’s strike evened it up for the visitors.

Andre Dozzell was sent off for Ipswich gave the hosts an advantage going into the final 20 minutes.

The Black Cats were then awarded a penalty in 84th minute, which Grant Leadbitter converted. It secured yet another valuable three points as Phil Parkinson’s men continue their charge for Championship promotion.

The last time these clubs met was in the League Cup back in August 2003. David Artell gave the Black Cats a lead after 18 minutes at Field Mill. Kevin Kyle went on to score an own goal in the 89th minute, but then rescued his cause with a winner for Sunderland which knocked the Stags out of the competition.

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