Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough offers his season prediction and what makes League One the 'most exciting'
Mansfield Town are looking to build on last season’s tenth-place finish as they challenge in another competitive League One campaign.
As Stags head into their clash with Burton Albion, only three points currently separate Oxford United in sixth place and Barnsley down in 18th.
League One is already proving to be unpredictable and surprising once again and Nigel Clough doesn’t expect any club to have an easy road between now and May.
Stags themselves have already upset promotion candidates Luton Town, and did well to hold Huddersfield Town to a 0-0 draw with ten men. Pre-season favourites Leicester City have also had a humbling start, winning just two of their games so far and sitting just one point ahead of Mansfield in the table.
The Foxes drew 1-1 with Notts County in their opening match and then lost to Burton Albion at home the following week. They’ve since been beaten 4-0 by Oxford United and most recently had to dig deep for a 4-3 win over Stockport County.
With so few points separating so many clubs at this stage in the season, Clough believes it is a sign of things to come.
“I think it’ll stay like that, honestly,” the boss said mid-week. “It did last season – it was the one league where it was so tight between top and bottom and I think it’ll stay like that again this season. There are an awful lot of good teams in this league and I think it makes it the most exciting.
“I don’t think anybody will run away with it and I can’t tell you who’s going to be down the bottom either. So I think that’s what will make it the most interesting league again.”
There is plenty of time to go before any season outcomes can be accurately predicted, so for the time being, we can expect many more curve ball results in League One and Stags will hope they can produce some of their own as they eye a successful campaign.