Mansfield Town aim for a third successive victory as they travel to the Peninsula Stadium to face Salford City

Now the pressure is off for the Stags and they are able to enjoy their final three games of the season without the worries of relegation, their penultimate away game of the campaign is against promotion-pushing Salford City.

The amber and blues have secured their EFL status for yet another season with three games to go in the League Two season.

Nigel Clough’s men were victorious in their last outing against Scunthorpe United at the One Call Stadium on Tuesday evening.

Mansfield Town controlled proceedings from start to finish and allowed the Iron to only two shots with both of them off target.

The rampant Stags opened the scoring in the 19th minute, and what a delight it was to see George Lapslie back on the scoresheet, for the first time since his return back from injury.

James Perch crossed the ball into the box and a mix up from Rory Watson and Manny Onariase saw Mansfield’s number 32 bundle the ball in from six yards out.

The hosts had plenty of chances in the first-half, but it wasn’t until the last 10 minutes of the match when the game was sealed for the amber and blues.

A wonder strike from Perch and fantastic reaction times from Tyrese Sinclair saw the two score the second and third goals for the Nottinghamshire club as they ran 3-0 victors.

Salford City kept their play-off hopes alive with their midweek victory at the Banks’s Stadium against Walsall. Ian Henderson scored in the 19th minute for the Ammies as the visitors limited the Saddlers to very little.

Jordan Turnball ensured the three points for Salford in the 59th minute as Gary Bowyer’s men are only three points away from seventh-placed Newport County who hold the final play-off spot.

In the reverse fixture, the Stags came out on top at the One Call Stadium. Lapslie bagged the opener in the contest in the first quarter of an hour which set the tone for the rest of the fixture.

Jordan Bowery was then on the scoresheet 15 minutes later with the amber and blues in a comfortable position 2-0 up at the half-time interval.

Di’Shon Bernard gave the Stags a late scare in added time of the second-half but Mansfield Town were able to grind out a well-earnt victory against the Ammies.

Mansfield Town have only faced Salford one other time in League Two action. The then newly-promoted side travelled to the One Call Stadium to play their one and only encounter against the Stags in the 2019/20 season which was cut short due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

After Mansfield experienced a fantastic start to their October that season by beating Grimsby Town 1-0 at Blundell Park, smashing Oldham Athletic 6-1 at the One Call Stadium and drawing 2-2 at the New Lawn with Forest Green Rovers, it was then Salford’s turn to face the Stags.

The first-half was uneventful as it ended 0-0 and the game both sides still had everything to play for as it entered the second-half. The Ammies played their cards well and jumped into the lead three minutes in the second period as Jake Jervis buried the ball past Conrad Logan.

Salford’s top goalscorer that season, Adam Rooney, made it two for the visitors in the 65th minute as they grabbed the game by the horns.

Nicky Maynard was able to grab one goal back for the Stags with 13 minutes to go, but it wasn’t enough for the amber and blues to come back as they fell to their first defeat in three games.

A victory at the Peninsula Stadium for Salford will keep their hunt for the play-offs alive as the season reaches its final stages.

For Mansfield, a win would be a nice confidence booster and could see the Stags move as high as 15th place if results go their way.

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