Match preview: Stags vs Tranmere Rovers

24 January 2019

We welcome Tranmere Rovers to One Call Stadium on Saturday for our next clash in Sky Bet League Two (3pm). Here's all you need to know ahead of the clash...

Stags will be without defender Hayden White, who suffered a broken leg in the recent victory over Colchester.

The duo of Alex MacDonald and David Mirfin will miss out as the pair continue their recoveries from knee injuries.

Goalkeeper Bobby Olejnik has been ruled out for the season with an anterior cruciate ligament rupture, so will miss out.

Striker Craig Davies, who has an ankle injury, will also be absent.

For Tranmere, Mark Ellis may miss out, as the defender is struggling with a neck injury.

Stags recorded a remarkable comeback in their most recent game, coming back to win 3-2 away to Colchester, despite trailing 2-0 at the break. Nicky Ajose, Tyler Walker and CJ Hamilton all found the net in the second-half.

Tranmere suffered a narrow defeat at home to Swindon in their last fixture, but recorded a convincing 3-1 win over Cheltenham in the game prior.

STAGS' LAST FIVE GAMES: 3W | 0D | 2L

TRANMERE'S LAST FIVE GAMES: 1W | 2D | 2L

We played out a 0-0 draw with Tranmere earlier this season at Prenton Park.

The referee for Saturday's game will be Ben Toner, assisted by Richard Wild and Andrew Hendley. The fourth official will be Lisa Rashid.

Mr. Toner last took charge of a Stags' fixture on the final day of last season in our 1-1 draw at home to Crawley.

Tickets for the match are available to purchase online via www.stagstickets.co.uk, at the ticket office on Quarry Lane, or by calling the ticket office on 01623 482 482.

Supporters can also purchase tickets on the day of the game. The matchday ticket office will be open for fans to buy tickets from 12pm until 3pm.

Our family ticket offer is also available for Saturday's game, which admits one adult and one child for just £18! Supporters that have purchased a family ticket will be seated in our family block, which is located in Block A of the Quarry Lane End. Fans with a family ticket may also be seated in Block B of the Quarry Lane End if demand dictates so.

Full ticket information can be found here.

Please note that, on police advice and for ease of congestion, the gate between the North and Ian Greaves Stand will be closed after every home game this season, re-opening approximately 20 minutes after the final whistle.

The Sandy Pate Sports Bar will open at 9am, serving delicious cooked breakfasts until 11am. After this, the bar will not serve food from the main menu, although the matchday kiosk inside the bar will open at 12.30pm, serving pies, chips, burgers and hot dogs.

Alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks are available for both home and away supporters, and the bar is located at the rear of the Ian Greaves Stand.

The bar will begin to serve food from its main menu following the full-time whistle.

The sports bar will remain open until 11pm after the match.

Ticket holders in Blocks N, P, Q and R of the Ian Greaves Upper tier will also be able to access our Kevin Bird Suite from 1pm.

Supporters will also be able to purchase our award-winning matchday programme, The Stag, which will be available to buy around the ground for just £3 before the match.

Fans can buy The Stag from the merchandise stand near the Sandy Pate Sports Bar, or any of our mobile programme vendors around the ground.

Car parking is severely restricted at One Call Stadium and works on a first come, first served basis. All reserved car parking spaces are within the location of the Ian Greaves Stand car park.

Matchday parking costs £5.00 per car. Please note that the car park shuts at 30 minutes prior to kick-off due to safety regulations.

The following sites, owned by Mansfield District Council and with easy access to the One Call Stadium are Grove Street, Victoria Street, Garden Road and Church Lane.

Charges are as follows:

Grove St 50p/hr.
Victoria St 50p/hr.
Garden Rd 50p/hr.
Church Lane 80p/hr.

All of the above pay and display surface level car parks offer cashless parking via RingGo as an additional way to pay.

Every car park has a unique code so people can either pay over the phone, by text, online or by using a free smartphone app.

Details of how to do this are displayed in each car park. Information about all Mansfield District Council car parks can be found at www.mansfield.gov.uk/carparks.

Where do I go when I get to One Call Stadium?

Hospitality

If you are a hospitality guest, please enter the stadium via the brown double doors to the rear of the Ian Greaves Stand, which is the entrance to our hospitality suites.

The doors are located to the left of the white merchandise stall outside the Sandy Pate Sports Bar, backing onto the main car park and sign-posted 'The Kevin Bird Suite'.

Media

Members of the media are asked to also head to the entrance to our hospitality suites, where our media steward will provide you with the necessary accreditation.

The required entrance is located to the left of the merchandise stall outside the Sandy Pate Sports Bar and signposted 'The Kevin Bird Suite'.

Supporters

If you need to collect tickets, please head to the main ticket office on Quarry Lane. For ticket purchases, please visit the matchday ticket office, adjacent to the Quarry Lane Stand, around the corner from the main ticket office.

Entry to the Quarry Lane End is via the turnstiles situated parallel to the road running alongside One Call Stadium.

The Ian Greaves Stand is the main stand at One Call Stadium, which backs onto the main car park.

Away fans are housed in the North Stand, which is located next to Portland Retail Park. Please note: there is no matchday parking in the retail park.

Can't make it to the game? You can follow the action live via our Twitter updates or via the match centre on mansfieldtown.net, which can be found here.

iFollow Stags subscribers can listen to full-match commentary of the clash, courtesy of commentators Martin Shaw and Dean Foulkes.

A report of the match will be published on the club website after the full-time whistle, and post-match reaction will be available to view on mansfieldtown.net and iFollow Stags.

Supporters who are blind or visually impaired can take advantage of our fantastic free audio descriptive commentary service.

Provided by Alan March Sport, supporters can listen to commentary from trained audio description broadcasters.

To take advantage of this free service, please visit the entrance to the Kevin Bird Suite at One Call Stadium after 1.00pm on Saturday.

Match Previews

Match Reports

Match report: Stags 3-0 Tranmere Rovers

26 January 2019

Mansfield Town secured a superb 3-0 victory over Tranmere Rovers courtesy of goals from Jorge Grant and Tyler Walker at One Call Stadium.

The Stags entered the interval with a one-goal lead as Grant netted a brilliant free-kick to register his first goal in Mansfield colours.

He then doubled his tally for the club mid-way through the second half, just three minutes after Walker’s 19th goal of the season, to give the hosts breathing space.

David Flitcroft made only one change following his side’s remarkable comeback against Colchester United.

Hayden White, who has been ruled out for the remainder of the season with a broken leg, was replaced by Matt Preston at the right side of the Stags’ back-three.

And it was the returning defender who was called into defensive duties first.

He intercepted James Norwood’s dangerous cross that would have otherwise found its way to Connor Jennings at the far post.

The Stags soon found their attacking rhythm, though, as CJ Hamilton looked to race away along the right flank.

Instead, the winger had to settle for a free-kick that was subsequently flicked wide by Preston in the Tranmere area.

Hamilton then found more space in a similar position, but his near-post cross was collected by Scott Davies.

The hosts continued their onslaught of the Rovers’ defence with intricate play. Grant delivered an inch-perfect ball at the end of a crisp move with no yellow shirts in position to capitalise.

But in the 22nd minute Grant took matters into his own hands.

After Walker had been upended just outside the 18-yard box, the 24-year-old assumed responsibility of the set-piece and curled home a delightful finish to put his side in the driving seat.

The visitors were then reduced to ten men after Ollie Banks received two cautions in the space of four minutes.

First for a foul on Grant, and then Mal Benning, referee Ben Toner had little choice in brandishing the red card.

The Stags showed no signs of letting their foot off the gas as they charged forward with purpose once more.

Walker was able to find the afternoon’s opening goalscorer in space, yet Grant could only angle the ball wide of Davies’ upright.

With minutes remaining in the first period, Rovers looked to exploit space that Mansfield had left unmanned.

Jake Caprice bombed forward with possession only to see his effort deflect against Neal Bishop.

There was a similar tempo on show at the outset of the second period as Mansfield sought after a two-goal cushion.

The trio of Walker, Grant and Nicky Ajose interchanged possession before the latter was unable to find the preceding two with his final ball.

Grant then fed Hamilton in-behind the Rovers defence on the hour mark; but a poor touch from the winger halted his progress any further.

The Stags pressure continued to mount and it told on 65 minutes.

Ajose’s initial effort stung the palms of Davies, only for the rebound to be calmly tucked home by Walker for his 19th goal of the season.

And just three minutes later Flitcroft’s side had their third with a moment of déjà vu.

It was Walker’s turn to strike a fierce attempt towards goal – that Davies was again unable to grasp – leaving Grant the easy task of slotting into a gaping goal for his brace.

The rain started to pour under the One Call Stadium floodlights but it in no way shape or form reflected the mood of the Mansfield faithful.

Momentarily, in the 75th minute, the Stags did have their fourth goal as Ryan Sweeney bundled the ball home, but it was instantaneously ruled out for offside.

Both Hamilton and substitute Otis Khan registered shots on target with little over ten minutes to play at One Call Stadium.

Ajose was seemingly hacked to the ground inside the opposition penalty area as the clock ticked into added time, but the referee saw otherwise.

Being a man light, Rovers struggled to threaten in the dying embers leaving the hosts to cruise to three more points. in SkyBet League Two.

Forest Green Rovers are the Stags’ next opponents as Flitcroft’s charges make the trip to The New Lawn this Tuesday evening.

STAGS XI: Smith (GK), Benning, Preston, Pearce ©, Bishop (Atkinson 69’), Mellis, Sweeney, Walker (Khan 75’), Ajose, Hamilton, Grant.

SUBS NOT USED: Logan (GK), Butcher, Law, A. Smith, Rose.

TRANMERE XI: Davies (GK), Buxton, Ridehalgh, McNulty © (Pringle 65’), Monthe, Norwood, Jennings, McCullough, Caprice, Perkins, Banks.

SUBS NOT USED: Pilling (GK), Harris, Mullin, Ellis, Smith, Gilmour.

REFEREE: Ben Toner.
ASSISTANTS: Richard Wild & Andrew Hendley.
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Lisa Rashid.

ATTENDANCE: 4,885 (451 away).

Match Reports

Standings