Mansfield Town are in Emirates FA Cup third round action for the first time in five years when they take on Championship side Cardiff City on Saturday (06 January, 3.00pm kick-off) and this is your definitive guide to the fixture.
Striker Danny Rose trained on Thursday and Stags will wait to see how his body reacts after he missed the win over Carlisle with a pelvis injury.
Skipper Zander Diamond, who was forced off against Wycombe after the ball was smashed into his face, will miss Saturday's match with concussion.
The FA's concussion guidelines state that players should be rested for 14 days after the injury occurred.
Midfielder Joel Byrom will also miss Saturday's clash, but is expected to return to training next week following his groin injury.
Defender David Mirfin is still being assessed after his knee surgery.
For the Bluebirds, winger Liam Feeney's has returned to parent club Blackburn Rovers following the expiration of his loan, but he is expected to rejoin Cardiff in the coming days.
Meanwhile, Aron Gunnarsson (ankle), Sean Morrison (groin), Danny Ward (knee), Kadeem Harris (knee) and Jazz Richards are all out injured.
Midfielder Craig Bryson failed a late fitness test prior to Cardiff's defeat at QPR last week, but could be pushing for a return on Saturday.
Stags are on an excellent run of just one defeat in their last 18 games in all competitions.
Manager Steve Evans' men enjoyed an exceptional festive period, picking up 10 points from a possible 12 from their four games.
They defeated Morecambe 2-1 at One Call Stadium prior to Christmas, before drawing 1-1 away to Grimsby Town on Boxing Day.
Stags then recorded a 2-1 win against high-flyers Wycombe Wanderers before kicking off 2018 with a 3-1 triumph at home to Carlisle United.
They now sit sixth in Sky Bet League Two, one point off the top three.
In the Emirates FA Cup, Mansfield began their campaign with a 3-1 win away to Evo-Stik side Shaw Lane.
Defender Krystian Pearce opened the scoring, before the Ducks' Lee Bennett equalised before the break.
Frontman Danny Rose then scored a sublime brace to ensure Stags' safe passage to the second round, including the Goal of Round One, which can be viewed here:
In the second round, Stags breezed past National League side Guiseley, emerging as 3-0 victors thanks to frontman Jimmy Spencer's scintillating hat-trick.
The Bluebirds have lost four successive games in the Championship, a run of results which has seen them slip to third in the table, 14 points behind leaders Wolves.
Although Neil Warnock's men are still well within the promotion mix, prior to the Christmas period they were just four points off the summit, but have faltered in recent weeks.
Before their bad run, they lost just once in ten games, picking up 23 points from a possible 30.
The last meeting between the two clubs occured in the 2002/03 season, a campaign of differing success for the two clubs.
Stags visited high-flying Cardiff in March 2003 and were defeated 1-0 thanks to a 61st-minute strike from frontman Robert Earnshaw.
The Bluebirds won promotion via the play-offs at the end of the season, whilst Stags were relegated to Division Three (now League Two).
OVERALL RECORD: W - 6 | D - 9 | L - 19
Lee Probert will officiate the contest and he will be assisted by Robert Merchant and Craig Taylor. Robert Lewis will be the fourth official.
Mr Probert last officiated the Stags in a 0-0 draw away to Shrewsbury Town in January 2006.
The Wiltshire-born official is now part of the elite group of referees, largely taking charge of Premier League matches.
Supporters have until 3.00pm on Friday 05 January to purchase their tickets. No tickets are available on the day from the Bluebirds.
We received an allocation of 2,225 tickets from the Bluebirds and these are now available to purchase for all supporters.
We are taking orders in person or via telephone at our ticket office. Payment will be processed immediately and tickets will be posted out/available for collection 24 hours after the order is made.
Prices for season ticket holders are as follows:
Adults: £10
Concessions (seniors & 16-21): £6
Under 16s: £3
Please note: season ticket holders must purchase their tickets in person or via telephone (01623 482 482) to be entitled to the discounted rate.
Tickets are available online from www.stagstickets.co.uk but these are general sale prices only.
Season ticket holders will be able to purchase tickets at the reduced rate until
Friday 05 January in person or via telephone. The reduced rate is not available online.
Tickets for season ticket holders are limited to one per person. Supporters can purchase on behalf of others, but they must have their season ticket card details to hand.
General sale prices are as follows:
Adults: £12
Concessions (seniors & 16-21): £8
Under 16s: £5
Tickets will go off sale from our ticket office at 3.00pm on Friday 05 January.
There will be no pay-on-the-day at the Cardiff City Stadium.
The Cardiff City Stadium, the Bluebirds' home ground, was built in 2009 and can hold 33,316 spectators.
Supporters who are opting to drive to the stadium should use the post-code: CF11 8AZ. Please be aware that some sat-navs may provide a route through the city centre, which could add at least 30 minutes onto your journey.
The away parking area can be found in the away compound of Cardiff City Stadium, via Sloper Road. If this fills, further parking is available at Bessemer Road's Wholesale Market car park, costing £5 and situated within a five-minute walk of the stadium.
Supporters wishing to enjoy pre-match food and drink are advised to make use of the various outlets in Cardiff city centre.
Establishments in the centre are known as 'neutral venues' which aren't ear-marked specifically for home fans.
We'll be publishing live text commentary of the clash on our twitter feed and the match centre on mansfieldtown.net will contain Opta-populated updates.
To access our twitter feed, head to twitter.com/mansfieldtownfc. The match centre can be accessed here, or by clicking the link on the home page on Saturday.
Furthermore, iFollow Stags subscribers will be able to 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 www.mansfieldtown.net after the game and full reaction will be available to view on mansfieldtown.net and iFollow Stags.
