Head count for Mansfield Town ahead of trip to Northampton Town
Mansfield Town sign off before the international break with a tough trip to Northampton Town on Saturday with Stags aiming to make it six League Two games unbeaten and maintain their challenge for the play-off spots.
A Stags XI, showing seven changes, were beaten 3-1 at Huddersfield Town last night – a game in which George Maris sustained an injury near the end which is being assessed today but will keep him out for Saturday.
Mansfield will also be without fellow midfielder Regan Hendry, who has now been ruled out until Christmas with knee and ankle injuries sustained against Harrogate last Saturday.
Luke Bolton is also out for a few weeks still while Elliott Hewitt and Baily Cargill are back in light training but unlikely to be thrown back in for this weekend.
Joe Gardner, Deji Oshilaja, Kyle Knoyle and Tyler Roberts were all rested last night with minor injuries or illness and Clough expects them all to be available on Saturday.
The Stags boss is then hoping not to lose any more players ahead of the two-week break.
The Cobblers have lost four of their last five outings and Clough said: “They have been very up and down and seem to be a team that goes in streaks.
“They won something like five out of seven, then lost a few. That's how it is in League One.
“We have had unbelievably tough games there over the years in both League Two and League One and we are not expecting any different.
“They play in a way that is very difficult to play against.
“They beat us at our place last season and we were fortunate to win there.
“We expect the usual game against them.”