Double injury blow as Stags seek first midweek win at Hartlepool

Central defender Ryan Tafazolli has a sore foot after a tackle on Saturday while Ben Hutchinson has been ruled out for the season.

Stags first team coach Micky Moore said: “Ryan took a knock on his foot late on against Chesterfield.

“He will some treatment this morning and this afternoon. There is another 48 hours to the game so we will give him every opportunity to be fit.

“But I would have to say he is 50-50 at this moment.”

On Hutchinson, he added: “Ben pulled his hamstring in the reserve game against Leicester in midweek and it looks like six to eight weeks.

“That could see him out for the rest of the season. That’s a shame. It is a big blow as he is a good player with a lot of experience.

“Ben has had one or two hamstring problems this year and this one looks to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. He has really pinged it.”

Moore is under no illusions how hard it will be in the North-East tomorrow night.

“It will be a very difficult game,” he said “They are six points off the play-offs and 11th in the table. But they are currently top of the table on home form. They have won four and drawn one of their last five home games and not conceded a goal in any of them.

“Colin Cooper has done a great job. They started slowly but they have now got a bit of momentum. It is a hard place to go.

“But the mood in our camp is excellent at the moment.

“We felt we should have won at Northampton last week and we felt we had enough chances near the end to have beaten Chesterfield on Saturday as well. Also, we have been playing well away from home.”

Another worry for Stags is how much the players will have left in their tanks tomorrow after giving so much in Saturday’s 0-0 local derby draw with Chesterfield.

After giving their all in the home win against Fleetwood on a Saturday last month, Stags crashed 4-1 at home to Bury in midweek and there is a worry that could happen again.

“It is possible and it’s something we have to look at,” said Moore “Do we change it and who?

“We played well at home against Fleetwood and got the result, then lost in midweek.

“Midweeks have been very disappointing and we haven’t won one all season. This is our last one, apart from Bank Holiday Monday so it would be nice to go up there and get a win.”