In their first outing following the midweek departure of Darrell Clarke, Barnsley travel to the One Call Stadium on Saturday to take on Mansfield Town.
The visitors have fallen eight points behind the playoff spots in the League One table following consecutive losses, while their hosts sit 18th in the midst of a winless run.
Match preview
Mansfield Town head into the weekend aiming to end a major slump in form and slide down the League One table, having quickly dropped deep into the bottom half in recent months.
After winning promotion from England’s fourth tier last time around, the Stags enjoyed an impressive first half to the campaign, earning 37 points from their first 23 outings, but they have only added four more points to that tally in 13 attempts since mid-January.
Nigel Clough‘s side have failed to add a single notch to their wins column in those games, although three of their four points have come from draws in March, as they shared the points with Burton Albion, Wigan Athletic and Stevenage following a pair of defeats to end last month.
Aiming to build on those draws and end their wait for a victory, the Stags most recently visited Exeter City on Tuesday and succumbed to a 17th league defeat of the season and a ninth in the last 13 matches, as Demetri Mitchell and Angus MacDonald fired the hosts to a 2-0 win at St James Park.
Having now dropped to 18th spot, just three places above the relegation zone albeit with a nine-point lead over the bottom four, Mansfield will hope to finally end their slump at the weekend and avoid falling any further heading into the run-in.
Their visitors head to Nottinghamshire in search of a return to winning ways of their own, having seen their playoff hopes take a major hit in the last week.
Following a strong first half to the season, Barnsley quickly dropped away from the top six early in the new year, as a six-match span produced just one draw alongside five defeats, leaving the Reds with an uphill struggle in their bid for a third straight playoff attempt in League One.
They did start to narrow the gap with three straight victories over Rotherham United, Northampton Town and Lincoln City, but Darrell Clarke’s side failed to extend that run, going on to lose 1-0 in a trip to fellow-playoff chasers Charlton.
Blackpool then visited Oakwell on Saturday and left with all three points as Sonny Carey netted a brace alongside an Ashley Fletcher goal in a 3-0 away win, spelling the end of Clarke’s tenure.
Now sitting 10th in England’s third tier with an eight-point gap up to sixth spot and just 10 games remaining, Barnsley will aim to kickstart another winning run heading into the run-in under the temporary management of Conor Hourihane to keep any slim hopes of a top-six finish alive.
Team News
Mansfield Town’s squad is badly hit by injuries heading into the weekend, with goalkeeper Christy Pym likely remaining sidelined alongside George Maris, Calum MacDonald, Matthew Craig, Keanu Baccus, Rhys Oates, Frazer Blake-Tracy and Lee Gregory.
Defender Sean McLaughlin was also forced off in the first half of their midweek defeat to Exeter City, likely leaving George Williams to deputise on the left-hand side of the defence with Jordan Bowery set to come in.
Jordan Rhodes may displace Lucas Akins and lead the line from the outset with support from Will Evans, who leads the squad with 11 League One goals so far this season.
Barnsley are hit by injuries of their own, with first-choice goalkeeper Joe Gauci again set to miss out alongside Barry Cotter, Georgie Gent, Fabio Jalo and Donovan Pines.
Key men Josh Earl and Adam Phillips also missed last weekend’s meeting with Blackpool due to knocks, and if the former remains sidelined, Connor Barratt should again join Marc Roberts and Conor McCarthy in front of deputy stopper Jackson Smith.
Elsewhere, Jon Russell and Luca Connell will continue in the engine room if Phillips is not deemed fit to return, with Max Watters hoping to again start in attack alongside Stephen Humphrys and Davis Keillor-Dunn, who has netted 13 league goals since joining the Reds from Saturday’s hosts in the summer.
Mansfield Town possible starting lineup:
Flinders; Bowery, Oshilaja, Flint, Williams; Reed, Boateng, Lewis; Evans, Rhodes, Dwyer
Barnsley possible starting lineup:
Smith; Barratt, Roberts, McCarthy; O’Keefe, Russell, Connell, Farrugia; Humphrys, Watters, Keillor-Dunn
We say: Mansfield Town 1-2 Barnsley
Both sides head into the weekend’s meeting lacking confidence, but hoping to galvanise and reignite a playoff bid under new management, we back Barnsley to get back to winning ways against a Mansfield Town team who have not tasted victory since early January.
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