Mansfield Town looking to bounce back as they host Cambridge United at the One Call Stadium

The Stags will look to bounce back against the league leaders after a disappointing 3-2 defeat against Bolton Wanderers that saw the amber and blues 2-0 up at one point.

It wasn’t the ending to a match that Nigel Clough wanted as they looked comfortable to get the victory after going 2-0 up with 15 minutes to go in the second-half.

Ollie Clarke opened the scoring in the 65th minute after his shot from outside the box was struck with real power and venom, which saw Bolton goalkeeper Matt Gilks only able to parry the shot into the back of his own goal.

That lead was doubled seven minutes later with Stephen Quinn playing a delightful ball into the path of Jamie Reid, with the striker slotting the ball into the back of the net.

Then the collapse followed as the Stags failed to hold onto their lead for the second time in the space of three days.

Declan John halved the deficit for the Trotters in the 78th minute after his shot/cross evaded Aidan Stone and found its way past him.

The defender was in the midst of the action once more after his cross was deflected into the back of the net by Mal Benning to level the score with five minutes to go.

Substitute Arthur Gnahoua saw the Stags players in pieces as he scored in the 89th minute to snatch the points away from Mansfield and take the full compliment back to Bolton.

That loss ended the Stags eight league match unbeaten run as they had to face the mistakes they made and learn from them ahead of their next match.

It won’t come easy for the amber and blues as they remain at the One Call Stadium this weekend, facing League Two leaders Cambridge United.

After losing their first league match since December 29th, the U’s faced relegation scrapping Southend United at the Abbey Stadium.

The league leaders looked to create chances but were only able to carve out four shots with half of them ending up on target.

The visitors were able to have 13 shots as they looked to match their opponents and not let anything in as they needed the points.

The Shrimpers were able to come away with one point after a bore 0-0 draw saw the two sides evenly matched throughout.

Mansfield Town were able to claim a win in the reverse fixture back in December at the Abbey Stadium. With the teams matching each other, Jamie Reid’s goal in the 64th minute was enough for the Stags to get all three points as they started to build on their league position.

The Stags have only lost three times at the One Call Stadium against the U’s as they have a positive record against the current league leaders, winning 14 times and losing ten times.

The East Midlander’s latest defeat to this weekend’s visitors came in September 2019 at the One Call Stadium. After the Stags held their own in the first half, they fell apart in the second 45 minutes and stumbled to an embarrassing 4-0 defeat.

Matt Preston was sent off in the 49th minute of the match as the hosts had to endure over 40 minutes of being down to ten men.

After being brought on three minutes earlier, Jack Roles opened the scoring for Cambridge in the 74th minute as they started to control the match.

Sam Smith doubled the lead in the 86th minute with now Stags player, George Maris, making it three in the 90th minute. Ex-Mansfield Town player Reggie Lambe made it 4-0 after he scored a penalty in the 95th minute with the home side left red-faced after the thrashing.

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