Good league form will bring cup rewards for Mansfield Town, believes boss Steve Evans

Stags have drawn League One Rochdale at home in the first round of the Carabao Cup and Evans knows how tough that will be.

“You talk about who did the good jobs in League One last year and I don’t think anyone can dispute the job that Keith Hill did at Rochdale,” he said.

“He put a team of men together, like he does every season, and not only did they play winning football and find a way to win, they also played very attractive football.

“I was fortunate to watch them three or four times last year and Paul Raynor watched them on the last day of the season and came away raving about their performance against Bradford.

“So we know how tough that test is going to be.”

Evans spelled out the club’s priorities, saying: “We don’t mince our words – we have one ambition and one focus here which is League Two and the cup competitions will be a bonus.

“But it’s normally systematic that if you have ambitions and you’re doing well in the league, you normally have good cup form as well as it means you have good players and a good team.”