Stags seek revenge after Papa John’s Trophy defeat as Harrogate Town travel to the One Call Stadium for EFL League Two encounter

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Mansfield Town have the chance to put it right at the second time of asking as they take on Harrogate Town at the One Call Stadium.

The Stags were beaten by the Sulphurites in the Papa John’s Trophy last time out with the amber and blues recording their third successive defeat for the first time since February.

Harrogate Town striker Danilo Orsi-Dadomo helped the hosts to a 3-1 victory on the evening after scoring his first professional hat-trick.

Simon Weaver’s men used the wind in their sails to great effect as they took the lead just before half-time. Orsi-Dadomo stabbed the ball into the net after George Shelvey spilt the ball into the forward’s path.

Early in the second half, the Stags had a penalty after Tyrese Sinclair’s effort hit a Harrogate arm in the penalty area. Jordan Bowery hit the crossbar from the spot which allowed the hosts to get up the other end and double their lead through goalscorer Orsi-Dadamo.

A thundering effort from George Lapslie gave Mansfield a glimmer of hope after the hour-mark but those hopes were dashed as Orsi-Dadamo claimed his hat-trick only a few minutes later to earn the hosts maximum points from their first Papa John’s Trophy match.

Following the defeat, Stags boss Nigel Clough spoke about using this fixture as an opportunity to give youngster’s much-needed game time and debuts.

“We used tonight as an opportunity for youngsters to get their debuts, with the likes of Ethan Hill getting his first start. It was an absolutely invaluable experience for them.

“We’re short of central defenders at the moment, so he [Keaton Ward] played back there with Faz Rawson.

“George Cooper has just come back into training and I thought he did very well when he came on. It was a mix and match team, but we got out of it what we needed, apart from the result.”

Ahead of this weekend’s encounter, Harrogate Town manager Simon Weaver gave his thoughts on what his side need to do in order to continue their unbeaten run.

“We’re expecting an entirely different team from Mansfield. I think Nigel Clough made no secret after the game that he wasn’t too concerned with the performance the other night because he made lots of changes.

“We’re expecting them to be really up for Saturday that’s for sure but I fully expect us to be just as up for this league encounter and play with edge, pace and energy again and make sure we’re very competitive.

“We know what we want to achieve in each game. From the analysis we know we can still tighten up defensively but we expect to shift the ball about quickly but first and foremost nail the fundamentals of what we’re about, which is being a really competitive outfit, winning the first ball, second ball and going from there.”

The Stags have never beaten Harrogate Town since the Sulphurites’ promotion into League Two last season. Clough’s men will want to return to winning ways after three defeats in three games in all competitions, but the Yorkshire club are yet to lose in league action and will be determined to continue their good run of form against Mansfield.

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