Stags on their travels again as they take on out of form Harrogate Town

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A new club record was achieved at the weekend as Mansfield Town earned their eighth consecutive Football League victory.

However, as they look to improve their away form, the Stags face Harrogate Town at the EnviroVent Stadium. The Sulphurites have been the amber and blues bogey team in recent times, with Nigel Clough’s men losing both matches when the two sides met earlier in the season.

With that being said, both sides have experienced a change in fortunes as Mansfield have stormed up the league whereas Harrogate have fallen slightly away from the promotion pack.

The Nottinghamshire club recorded another victory at the weekend as they recorded a 2-0 win over Leyton Orient.

Windy weather conditions saw the ball fly everywhere as the football on offer was not the best, however, Mansfield were able to pounce and open the scoring before half-time.

A series of clearance from the Orient defence saw the ball fall to Rhys Oates. The forward made his way to the edge of the box before dinking it through to Jordan Bowery, who tucked the ball into the back of the net. When bringing the ball down, the forward touched it with his hand before breaking the deadlock. Referee Sam Allison and the linesmen did not see it which saw the goal stand as the Stags lead 1-0 at the interval.

The advantage was doubled in the 72nd minute after a very scrappy second half. Stephen Quinn’s corner was miscontrolled by Stephen McLaughlin which saw the instinctive Ollie Clarke fire a low effort into the bottom corner.

An eighth consecutive win, a clean sheet and a Swindon Town slip up saw the amber and blues move up to fifth in the league, three points off the automatic promotion places.

Harrogate, on the other hand, have only won twice in their last eight league games leaving them nine points outside the play-offs.

The North Yorkshire side were on their travels last weekend as they took on a resurgent Stevenage at the Lamex Stadium.

Boro were clinical and scored all three of their shots on target which doomed the Sulphurites to a defeat after a comfortable 3-0 win over Oldham Athletic two weeks ago.

Jake Reeves opened the scoring for the hosts in the ninth minute. Luke Prosser’s punt up the field was only cleared as far as the midfielder, who hit his bobbling effort past Mark Oxley.

A poor mistake for Harrogate was punished not long after as Stevenage doubled their lead through Luke Norris. The win was sealed when Jake Taylor gave the hosts their third goal of the afternoon as they extended their unbeaten run to five games.

The Sulphurites will be looking to pick themselves up again, however, getting back to winning ways will not be easy with a confident Stags side visiting the EnviroVent Stadium.

After sealing the loan signings of Matty Longstaff from Newcastle United and Jamie Murphy from Hibernian, Clough has a more than capable squad to compete at the top end of League Two.

Mansfield did however record back-to-back 3-1 defeats against Harrogate which will make this tie even more important.

Away performance is something that the amber and blues need to work on if they are to continue their promotion push.

A ninth consecutive Football League victory is on offer for the Stags with the Sulphurites looking to get back to winning ways and continuing their good run of form against Mansfield.

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