Preview: Mansfield Town to finish pre-season with One Call clash against Derby County
Mansfield Town’s final pre-season friendly will see them host Championship side Derby County at the One Call Stadium.
Friday’s clash will be Stags’ first pre-season game at home, having faced Retford United, Barrow and Alfreton Town all on the road.
This week was a double-header for Nigel Clough and co, following their away day to Alfreton on Tuesday. There will then be little time to wind down before focus shifts to Sheffield United in the Carabao Cup first round.
Derby have a packed schedule coming up as they prepare for three friendlies in five days. After their visit to the One Call, John Eustace’s side are immediately back in action on Saturday against Burton Albion, and they will face Rotherham three days later.
The Rams will arrive in Mansfield off the back of two consecutive defeats to Valencia and Freiburg respectively. Meanwhile, Stags have a 4-0 win over Alfreton under their belt from midweek.
Clough was pleased with his side’s display against the Reds, which involved Rhys Oates scoring a brace and George Maris and Stephen McLaughlin scoring the other two goals.
The boss deployed his starting 11 for 70 minutes, followed by a full change for the final 20. This order will be reversed for the match against Derby to ensure all players are out on the pitch for the same amount of time this week.
Stags have faced Derby on just eight occasions since 2005, according to AI Score, and the Rams have the slight edge when it comes to wins, with three to Mansfield’s two.
A win for Stags on Friday will be three out of four this pre-season. Derby have won just one of three so far and will play two more after their visit to Mansfield, before their Carabao Cup season kicks off against League One champions Lincoln City.
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