Mansfield Town look to make it back-to-back wins against Oldham Athletic

Mansfield Town host Oldham looking to carry on their form and resurrect to resurrect their season.

The Stags are set to host Oldham Athletic at the One Call Stadium with the amber and blues looking to make it back-to-back wins in the league.

Last time out for the Latics they played Accrington Stanley in the EFL Trophy and got beat 3-0 at home with Mansfield also playing on Tuesday and drawing 1-1 with Crewe Alexandra, but the amber and blues were not able to secure an extra point losing out on penalties.

Team news

After an injury-plagued start to the campaign, the amber and blue look to be edging closer to a fully fit squad for the first time this season.

Jordan Graham returned to training this week following a knee injury.

Craig Davies is also close to coming back into the fold with the forward set to join some first-team training sessions within the next week-and-a-half.

Defender Matt Preston will play no part as he serves the final game of a four-match suspension following his sending off against Cambridge United. Hayden White is also suspended after his red at Blundell Park last Saturday.

Jacob Mellis is likely to miss out due to a hamstring injury obtained in the Leasing.com Trophy on Tuesday, though the problem is not as bad as initially feared.

Urko Vera, Gary Woods, Zak Mills and Johan Branger-Engone are all likely to miss out for the visitors due to injury.

Stags’ boss John Dempster says that his charges will be going ‘full throttle’ against Oldham Athletic on Saturday, with the aim to secure back-to-back league wins for the first time this season.

“The players came in on Monday with a real spring in their step [after win at Grimsby],” he told iFollow Stags. “The atmosphere after the game in the dressing room was brilliant. To be on the right end of a late result was fantastic.

“It would be massive [to get back-to-back wins]. In this league, everybody knows that if you can put back-to-back wins together at any stage of the season, it sees you rocket up the league.

“It will enhance confidence and belief. It’s a real opportunity on Saturday. We’ve missed opportunities in the past to go back-to-back – we had an unbelievable chance to do it against Leyton Orient.”

Oldham Athletic manager Dino Maamria is fired up and ready to go as Oldham Athletic travel to Mansfield town on Saturday.

“We’ve moved on already; I think it’s a funny competition because you’re never too sure who to play and who not to play.” He said.

“The league is our priority, but to be fair to the lads we started the game really strongly and the official probably ruined the game for both teams.

“We’ve moved on though; our focus is on Mansfield and that competition will be put on the back burner until Fleetwood.

“We’re still in a strong position because win or draw we can go through the group.”

Head-to-head

In the last five encounters between the two clubs, Oldham have won twice against the Stags with the amber and blues beating Oldham on one occasion with the other two games ending in goalless draws.