Ryan Sweeney believes his side have had a ‘solid start’ to the 2026/27 League One season.

The captain, who was out for a chunk of last season through injury, has not missed a single match this campaign.

The defender has been a consistent starter for Stags and has put in some solid performances to contribute to his side sitting 11th in the table.

After cracking the top ten last season, Mansfield Town have moved their target to climb as high up the standings as possible. Multiple players have already confirmed their eyes are on challenging to be in and around the top six towards the end of the season.

Ryan Sweeney during the Sky Bet League 1 match against Doncaster Rovers FC at the One Call Stadium, 15 Aug 2026, Photo credit Chris & Jeanette Holloway / The Bigger Picture.media

placeholder image — Ryan Sweeney during the Sky Bet League 1 match against Doncaster Rovers FC at the One Call Stadium, 15 Aug 2026, Photo credit Chris & Jeanette Holloway / The Bigger Picture.media

Sweeney wants to remain level-headed and not look too far into the season but he is pleased as a whole with how Stags have performed in these first three months of League One, give or take a few frustrating results.

“I think it’s still very early to be looking at the league standings and things like that. On a whole, I think we could have had a couple of more points here and there but overall, I think we’ve had a pretty solid start and we’re in a good place to kick on now.”

Now their run in the Jersey Mike's Trophy is over, Stags’ focus switches firmly back to League One. They have a break until next week following the postponement of Stevenage and they will next face MK Dons on 21 November.

Mansfield finally broke their run of defeats on the road with a 2-2 draw against Burton back in September. That sparked their now unbeaten streak away from home, which included statement 3-0 and 4-1 wins over AFC Wimbledon and Blackpool respectively.

Their latest result was a 0-0 stalemate against Wigan at the Brick Community Stadium.

Prior to their recent league defeat to Notts County, Stags hadn’t lost a league match at the One Call Stadium since February.

“We’ve been trying to transfer our home performances into away games, and we did that. I think we were brilliant at Wimbledon and then had to dig in at Blackpool,” Sweeney said.

“They were really good in the first half and we came out in the second and played our stuff.

“I think we were brilliant over the course of both games, so we want to continue that and give the travelling support something to shout about.”