Mansfield Town and Peterborough United meet at Field Mill for their rearranged League One fixture on Wednesday night.
It will see two very famous footballing sons go head-to-head, with Darren Ferguson taking the Posh to face Nigel Clough‘s Stags.
Match preview
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Peterborough’s involvement in the EFL Trophy final earlier this month saw this match moved, and both clubs have since secured their third-tier status for next season, despite having a game in hand.
For Mansfield, it was Bristol Rovers’ defeat on Saturday which confirmed their survival, and it was a good job, because 24 hours later, Clough’s men were thrashed 4-0 at champions Birmingham City.
High-40s was also likely going to be enough to stay up, and Mansfield enter their final two games with 48 points, five clear of the drop zone, with none of the sides below them having the luxury of a game in hand.
It is set to be a disappointing end to the season in terms of results though, because the Birmingham defeat on Sunday made it back-to-back losses for Clough’s men, conceding nine goals in the process, as they were also thrashed 5-1 in their last home outing with Reading.
The hosts have taken just one point from their last six matches, and their form is even worse at Field Mill, with nine defeats in their last 11 matches here, and they will now have two home games to finish the season to correct that, ahead of the visit of Exeter City at the weekend.
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For Peterborough, this will be their first visit to Mansfield for a league game since the 2006-07 season, when both clubs were in League Two, and the visitors will hope for more joy compared to the 3-0 defeat they suffered at home in the reverse fixture.
The Posh also lost a third-round EFL Cup tie on penalties here last season, meaning they enter the clash on the back of three successive defeats against their upcoming opponents.
Morale will be much higher among the visitors though, after they put relegation fears to bed thanks to a strong run through February and March, before retaining the EFL Trophy two weeks ago, beating League One’s leading force Birmingham at Wembley.
All three league matches since that joyous day in the capital have ended in 1-1 draws for Ferguson’s men, in tricky clashes with Stockport County, Barnsley and Bolton Wanderers, and it leaves them in 17th with no chance to move up the table this midweek.
Team News
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Mansfield were able to welcome back both Calum MacDonald and Stephen Quinn from injury at the weekend, with the latter returning immediately to the starting XI.
Top scorer Will Evans remains a doubt though, while Baily Cargill, Elliott Hewitt, Alfie Kilgour and Aaron Lewis all missed the trip to Birmingham after picking up injuries in the week prior.
That quartet joined Frazer Blake-Tracy, Ben Quinn, Rhys Oates and Lee Gregory on a lengthening injury list for the Stags.
Peterborough will have Tayo Edun back after a four-game suspension this midweek following his second red card of the season, but there will be late fitness tests for Emmanuel Fernandez, Oscar Wallin and Archie Collins.
Goalkeeper Nicholas Bilokapic is set to remain out though, along with attacker Cian Hayes, while Mahamadou Susoho and Rio Adebisi will also play no part.
Malik Mothersille had a mixed afternoon against Bolton at the weekend, scoring the opener from the spot in the first half, but then missing a penalty which would have more than likely won the game for the Posh in the latter stages.
Mansfield Town possible starting lineup:
Pym; Oshilaja, Vickers, Flint; Williams, MacDonald, Reid, Baccus, Bowery; Akins, Maris
Peterborough United possible starting lineup:
Blackmore; Johnston, Hughes, Nevett, Mills; De Havilland, Kyprianou; Odoh, Mothersille, Poku; Jones
We say: Mansfield Town 1-3 Peterborough United
Peterborough have scored the same amount of goals as Wrexham this season, despite being 38 points worse off, but given Mansfield’s defensive woes of late, the visitors will fancy their chances to also take advantage in what has now become a dead rubber for both sides.
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