Mansfield Town will be hoping to get back to winning ways as they host the struggling Grimsby Town on Saturday afternoon. The Stags are without a win in their last two games and are sat in 16th position in the table so any late play-off push looks unlikely. Last time out Stephen McLaughlin equalised in the 80th minute to secure Mansfield a point at home to Carlisle United so they will be hoping to go one better this weekend.

Grimsby will be looking to pick up their first win in seven games and try and reduce the eight point gap between themselves and 22nd-placed Barrow. As Barrow keep picking up wins, it is looking ever the more likely that Grimsby will be playing in the National League next season.

However, The Mariners have steadied the ship a little bit with three successive draws, but they really need to be winning games now to have any chance of survival.

Team news

Nigel Clough may look to freshen up his Mansfield lineup a bit in hope of some better results, and therefore may look to include players that have missed out in recent weeks such as Oli Sarkic and Ollie Clarke. George Maris is doubtful due to injury so Jason Law will most likely step into the midfield. Joe Riley and George Lapslie are both still unavailable due to long-term injuries.

Paul Hurst has a full squad of players available at his disposal and will likely make some more changes to his starting lineup in search of a rare victory. One player he may turn to is 24-year-old striker Ira Jackson Jr who is yet to make a first-team start for The Mariners.

Predicted lineups

Mansfield (4-3-3):

Stone; Gordon, Sweeney, Rawson, Benning; Law, McLaughlin, Clarke; Charsley, Bowery, Sarkic.

Grimsby (4-4-2):

McKeown; Hendrie, Hewitt, Menayese, Clifton; Morais, Matete, Rose, Adams; Jackson, John-Lewis.

Ones to watch

Jordan Bowery is Mansfield's top scorer so far this season with 10 goals. The 29-year-old has also bagged five assists for The Stags and can play anywhere across the frontline. He uses his aerial ability to dominate defences from crosses and long balls so the Grimsby defence will need to be vigilant of that. 

Lenell John-Lewis has only been handed four starts since arriving in January so it will be interesting to see if he can cement his place in the team in the coming weeks. He bagged his first goal of the season for Grimsby against Carlisle so time will tell if he can build upon this.

Previous meetings

The reverse fixture back in December saw a 1-1 draw at Blundell Park with goals from Jackson and Nicky Maynard.

How to watch

Kick-off is at 15:00 BST on Saturday March 20 and is available on both clubs' iFollow streaming service for a fee of £10.

 

 

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