Stags kick-off their Carabao Cup campaign as they face Preston North End for the second time in two seasons

Goals from Tom Barkhuizen, Sean Maguire, Patrick Bauer in the first-half saw Preston run into a 3-0 lead after 28 minutes. Josh Harrop added a fourth in the 65th minute as the Championship side proved far too strong for their League Two visitors.

Nigel Clough will want to progress through into the next round as the Stags boss values cup competitions a lot. Last season, we saw that a good cup run can coincide with a good league form as Mansfield Town made it to the third round of the FA Cup and stormed clear of relegation to a 16th place finish.

A second-round place in the Carabao Cup may be a good thing, as the last time the amber and blues made it to that stage of the competition, they finished fourth in League Two, narrowly missing on promotion.

In their EFL League Two opener, the amber and blues made a winning start in dramatic fashion. Three minutes before the end of the first-half, a delivery from Stephen McLaughlin saw Oli Hawkins head the ball into back of the Bristol Rovers net for his first league goal in Stags colours.

The Gas were level after 63 minutes. After Mansfield Town cleared the corner away from their box, Cain Harries connected with the ball from outside of the box as the ball beat Nathan Bishop and levelled the game at 1-1.

When Paul Coutts was sent off in the 78th minute, Nigel Clough’s men put the visitors under immense pressure and continued to do so until the end, and they reaped their rewards in the final minute of added time.

Hawkins was pulled down in the box by Mark Hughes as referee Joshua Smith pointed to the spot. Danny Johnson stepped up and slotted the ball into the bottom left corner to earn Mansfield Town a 2-1 win and the three points.

On the other hand, Preston North End were battered by the newly promoted Hull City in their EFL Championship opener.

After going 1-0 up after Emil Riis Jakobsen’s goal in the eighth minute, it all went downhill for the Lilywhites as the Tigers put four goals past Declan Rudd.

Keane Lewis-Potter equalised 10 minutes before the end of the first 45 minutes with Richard Smallwood, Josh Magennis and Andy Cannon all scoring to give Hull City the victory.

Mansfield Town have beaten Championship sides Hull City and Coventry City in pre-season, but those games must be taken with a pinch of salt.

The real test will be in a competitive match and whether the Stags are able to continue their winning form into the cup against an opposition that they’ve only beaten once in seven cup games.