Sports Mole previews Tuesday’s League One clash between Crawley Town and Mansfield Town, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Crawley Town welcome Mansfield Town to Broadfield Stadium in League One on Saturday, when the hosts will be looking to bounce back after defeat in Ben Gladwin‘s first game in interim charge.
The visitors meanwhile are on a run of three consecutive league victories and they could go level on points with Wrexham in second with another win on Tuesday evening.
Match preview
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The loss of former manager Scott Lindsey clearly hit Crawly hard if Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Bolton Wanderers was anything to go by, with goals from Kyle Dempsey and John McAtee leaving Gladwin’s side beaten in his first game in charge of the Red Devils.
While Crawley did manage an impressive 69% of the ball, their inability to score came back to bite them as Bolton were more ruthless when it mattered, but they will have the chance to right the wrongs of Saturday’s profligacy on Tuesday evening.
Crawley had initially made a strong start to their season, yet they are now not only managerless, but the Red Devils also come into the Mansfield game without a win from their last six games in all competitions, and fighting off relegation now looks like it could be a real challenge for Crawley this season.
While no decision has been made ahead of the Mansfield game about who will become the next permanent manager of Crawley, names like Karl Robinson and Rob Elliott have been mooted as a potential successor to Lindsey.
For now though, it appears as though Gladwin will remain in interim charge for the visit of the Stags on Tuesday evening, but he will undoubtedly be looking to see if his side can be more efficient in front of goal should they manage to carve out a similar number of opportunities here.
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Just like Tuesday’s opponents, Mansfield were also promoted from League Two last season, but they have undoubtedly made a stronger start to life in League One, as they currently sit in fifth with 14 points from their first seven games.
The Stags also have a game in hand on the teams around them; the likes of Stockport County, Wycombe Wanderers, Lincoln City and Birmingham City have all played a game more than Mansfield, so Nigel Clough‘s side have a real opportunity here to continue to climb the table.
Mansfield come into Tuesday’s game on the back of a 2-0 away win at Northampton Town, where goals from Will Evans and Aaron Lewis saw the Stags win their third consecutive league game, despite only having 35% of the ball.
Prior to this result, Mansfield’s September has also seen them pick up two 2-1 league wins over Cambridge United and Shrewsbury Town, as well as a 3-0 away win at Bradford in the EFL Trophy.
When Clough picked up the Mansfield job in 2020 the club had finished the previous season in 21st, so it is a great achievement to see the Stags competing so well in a higher division following their promotion.
Crawley Town League One form:
Crawley Town form (all competitions):
Mansfield Town League One form:
Mansfield Town form (all competitions):
Team News
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Crawley look to once again be without the services of captain Dion Conroy and Gavan Holohan, with the latter being closer to a return to action, even if Tuesday could come too soon for the Irish midfielder.
Gladwin otherwise has a fully-fit squad to pick from for the visit of Mansfield, but Harry Forster could push for a start on the wing having come off the bench in the defeat against Bolton.
Elsewhere, Bradley Ibrahim could come into the midfield at the expense of either Jai Williams or Cam Bragg should the manager look to rotate his midfield options.
For Mansfield, Elliott Hewitt has started consecutive games following a long injury layoff with a knee injury, so it would not be a surprise if he was rested and replaced by Alfie Kilgour should Hewitt not be ready to start again.
Further up the pitch, Jordan Bowery and Ben Waine will be pushing to start in attack ahead of Lee Gregory and Evans, as Clough has plenty of forward options at his disposal.
Crawley Town possible starting lineup:
Wollacott; Mullarkey, Mukena, Flint; Quitirna, Williams, Bragg, Kelly; Camara, Darcy, Swan
Mansfield Town possible starting lineup:
Pym; Kilgour, Oshilaja, Cargill; Baccus, McLaughlin, Reed, Boateng, Quinn; Gregory, Evans
We say: Crawley Town 1-2 Mansfield Town
Crawley did not make a great start to life without their previous manager Lindsey, and they were also very wasteful in front of goal in their defeat against Bolton.
Meanwhile for Mansfield, Clough has undoubtedly got his side believing they can compete at this level, and with the plethora of attacking options at his disposal, we think the Stags could take all three points on Tuesday and win their fourth league game in a row.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.