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Match Previews

Preview: Stags vs Blackburn Rovers

16 July 2019

Mansfield welcome Blackburn Rovers to One Call Stadium on Wednesday for the first of three home pre-season friendlies against Championship opposition (7.30pm kick-off). Here’s all you need to know ahead of the clash…

Assistant manager Lee Glover confirmed in Tuesday morning’s news conference that Hayden White, who has been recovering from a broken leg suffered in January, will play some part in the match against Rovers.

The Stags will be without forward Craig Davies for the clash, as he is recovering from an ankle injury, and goalkeeper Bobby Olejnik, a long-term absentee due to an ACL injury suffered last season.

Young defender Noah Stokes, who dislocated his knee last Thursday during our away match against Bradford Park Avenue, will also miss out.

Rovers will be without long-term absentee Ben Gladwin for the match, but could welcome back striker Dominic Samuel, who has been out for nine months with a knee ligament injury.

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The Stags have played three matches since returning from their ten-day training camp in southern Portugal, with first team regulars appearing in two of them.

A mixture of our under-18s and under-21s recorded a comfortable 2-0 victory away to Retford United last Tuesday, before stronger Stags’ outfits earned 4-2 and 1-0 wins away to Bradford Park Avenue and Alfreton Town, respectively.

Blackburn have appeared in one pre-season friendly to date, a 2-1 win away at Barrow. Joe Nuttall’s strike proved to be the difference for Rovers, who had taken the lead through an own goal prior to Scott Quigley’s equaliser.

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We last faced Blackburn Rovers in 2016, a first round Carabao Cup tie at One Call Stadium. The visitors won the game 3-1, courtesy of a brace from Anthony Stokes and a further strike from Shane Duffy. Mitch Rose was on target for the amber and blue.

The referee for Wednesday evening’s game will be John Brooks, assisted by Alix Pashley and Ian Dudley. The fourth official will be Andrew Dallison.

Mr. Brooks last took charge of a Stags’ fixture for our 1-0 victory over Yeovil at One Call Stadium in August 2016.

Tickets for the match are priced at £10 for adults and £5 for concessions (under-18 and 65+), and can be purchased at no further price increase up until kick-off on matchday.

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

Please note that tickets for our friendly against Blackburn are only available in the upper and lower tiers of the Ian Greaves Stand.

The newly-refurbished Sandy’s Bar & Kitchen will be open from midday, serving food from the main menu until 5pm.

After this time, a selection of matchday food will be served from 5pm until 8.30pm.

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 remain open until 11pm after the match.

Supporters should note that the Kevin Bird Suite will not be open for Wednesday evening’s friendlies.

Supporters will also be able to purchase the special poster edition of our new-look matchday programme The Stag for just £1.50 prior to all of our three home pre-season friendlies.

On one side of the fold-out poster our fixtures for the 2019-20 season are listed, with notes from manager John Dempster and chairman John Radford overleaf, along with opposition content on Blackburn Rovers, Hull City and Nottingham Forest.

The Stag can be purchased from the merchandise stand near Sandy’s Bar & Kitchen, our matchday kiosks, or any mobile programme vendor around One Call Stadium.

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 per car. Please note that the car park shuts 30 minutes prior to kick-off due to safety regulations.

The following sites, owned by Mansfield District Council and with easy access to 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 Sandy’s Bar & Kitchen, 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 Sandy’s Bar & Kitchen 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.

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

Please note: there is no matchday parking in Portland Retail Park.

Can’t make it to the game? iFollow Stags subscribers based in and outside the UK can watch the match LIVE - with commentary - by logging in to mansfieldtown.net/ifollow.

You can also follow the action live via our Twitter match updates, which can be found here.

A report of the match will be published on the club website following 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 6pm on Wednesday.

Follow us across our social media accounts to keep fully updated on all areas of a Stags’ matchday. Click the below links to redirect to the corresponding social media account.

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To add us on Snapchat, search ‘mtfcofficial.’

Match Previews

Match Reports

Report: Stags 1-3 Blackburn Rovers

17 July 2019

Mansfield Town produced a spirited display with plenty of chances but ultimately fell to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Sky Bet Championship side Blackburn Rovers.

A Matt Preston own goal alongside John Buckley’s strike gave the away side a two-goal cushion that was immediately halved when Krystian Pearce struck in the 53rd minute.

However, despite the Stags creating numerous opportunities to draw level, Adam Armstrong’s finish five minutes from time put the result beyond doubt.

The teamsheet signalled a majority of senior figures for John Dempster’s side, while the likes of James Clarke, Lewis Gibbens and Alistair Smith featured once again from the U21 setup.

There was little to split both sides during the opening stages but it soon sparked into life as the clock reached double figures.

In the tenth minute, Blackburn were awarded a free-kick and took the invitation to work their training ground routine in effective circumstances.

A low, driven cross made its way to the far post where Preston, unable to do any less, inadvertently turned the ball over the goal line.

Rovers were soon at the hosts’ throats yet again when they broke from a counter – Dan Butterworth being thwarted by a fine Conrad Logan save.

The Stags wanted a quick response, though, and Jacob Mellis could have provided just that when his half volley arrowed off target.

Alex MacDonald then found himself on the end of a neat passing move; however, his thunderous strike was well blocked by Joe Rankin-Costello.

Tony Mowbray’s men continually threatened via eye of the needle passes, yet they were also thwarted on several occasions by Logan in the first period.

Heading towards the half-time whistle, Trialist A’s first touch allowed him room for a strike – one that was miscued and spun away from Andy Fisher’s target.

It meant the Sky Bet Championship side took a narrow one-goal cushion heading into the second period.

And they doubled their aforementioned advantage only six minutes after the restart.

Buckley charged down Pearce, who was unaware of his presence, to retrieve possession a dangerous area and slot into the bottom right corner.

The Mansfield skipper, determined to make amends, atoned for his mistake just a minute later.

He swivelled on the spot and lashed a powerful strike beyond the reach of Fisher to halve the deficit in front of the travelling supporters in the North Stand.

And the Stags’ no.5 nodded over the bar from a corner only minutes later, missing the chance to earn his brace and draw level in the same moment.

Chances aplenty started to fall the hosts’ way when first Otis Khan and then Danny Rose were denied by Fisher at full stretch.

Hayden White – making his second appearance in a Stags shirt since January – began to charge down the right flank but was unable to deliver an accurate final ball.

Mansfield were soon awarded a set-piece in dangerous territory and despite beating Fisher this time, the midfielder instead found the upright.

Just as it seemed Mansfield were edging closer to an equaliser, Pearce forcing yet another save from Fisher, the visitors struck a third time.

Substitute Armstrong found space behind the Stags’ defence with a clever run, which was finished off as he tucked the ball beyond Aidan Stone.

Mansfield will face Sky Bet Championship opposition once again this Saturday as they take on Hull City at One Call Stadium.

STAGS FIRST-HALF XI: Logan (GK), Preston, Pearce ©, Sweeney, Trialist A, MacDonald, Bishop, Hamilton, Mellis, Maynard, Cook.

STAGS SECOND-HALF XI: Logan (GK) (Stone 78’), Preston (Smith 78’), Pearce ©, Sweeney (Gibbens 78’), White, Tomlinson (Sterling-James 76’), Benning, Trialist B, Trialist C, Khan, Rose.

BLACKBURN XI: Fisher (GK), Rankin-Costello, Hart, Smallwood © (Downing 64’), Rothwell (Armstrong 64’), Travis, Butterworth, Grayson, Buckley, Brereton, Magloire.

REFEREE: John Brooks.

ASSISTANTS: Alix Pashley & Ian Dudley.

ATTENDANCE: 1,701 (247 away).

Match Reports