Cambridge United need to '˜step up' to Mansfield Town challenge

Mansfield Town go in search of their first away league win of the season when they take on an out-of-sorts Cambridge United side on Saturday.
Joe Dunne.Joe Dunne.
Joe Dunne.

The Stags will be hoping to bounce back from their disappointing defeat at home to Exeter City last weekend, which brought an end to their unbeaten start in League Two.

And, following three away draws already, David Flitcroft’s men may sense the trip to Cambridge represents as good an opportunity as any to register that first win on the road.

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The U’s have won just once at home so far, a 3-2 victory over Notts County in August, and suffered a fifth loss of the season at Colchester United last time out.

The 3-0 defeat saw them drop to 19th in the early League Two standings, having scored on average less than a goal a game and conceded 15 in total.

Head coach Joe Dunne said elements of their defeat at Colchester were “symptomatic” of a team towards the bottom of the league.

And added: “Every mistake we make goes into the back of the net and it has to stop and the only way to do that is personnel.

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“You can’t keep making errors like that and expect they’ll get away with that now everyone is fit.

“I would be expected and my changing room would expect me to not accept that either and it’s happening week in, week out.

“It’s early September, so we’ve got to stick with what we’ve got and the players have got to step up and just do basics.”

Cambridge have experience in their forward options with David Amoo, Jabo Ibehre, Adebayo Azeez and Barry Corr among Dunne’s ranks.

Azeez tops their scoring charts with three goals in total, which included a brace in the win over Notts, and averages a goal nearly every two games (191 minutes).