Stags faced with tough February
Looking ahead to next month we face a very tough set of fixtures. We play 2 of the top 3, promotion rivals Rushden, two tricky away ties at Tamworth and Hayes and a trip to the Racecourse Ground to play underachieving Wrexham.
This month will play massive part in our season, it will have a major bearing on whether we are to finish in the play off spots or if we are just to miss out on them. We have 7 games in 25 days which will test how fit the squad are, Holdsworths ability to pick the right team for the match and I expect it will also give a chance for some of our fringe players to impress.
We kick off the month away at Wrexham. Wrexham are massively underachieving sitting 16th in the table but have a fair amount of games in hand on the majority of teams. Last week they signed Andrew Mangan for 50k. A huge amount of money on one player who isn’t proven at this level. They will be hoping he can recapture his form from Forest Green Rovers and fire them into the top half of the table.
I’ve visited the Racecourse Ground on the last 3 or 4 occasions that we have played there and I’ve never seen us win. The pitch is always in poor condition and I expect it will be again now that the ground also hosts Super League Rugby. I expect Holdsworth will pick a big tough physical side for this game as it will be near impossible to play football on their shocking pitch. 2-2.
Next up will be Gateshead at home. I firmly expect us to go out and get 3 points here. They were poor up at their place, they also will be missing their best player Daryl Clare. Daryl can’t play against us as that was part of the transfer deal that took him to Gateshead at the start of January. I don’t expect Gateshead to offer much in terms of quality but they will come and look to grind out a result. Probably with 10 men behind the ball at all times. A nice early goal would suit us here and would give us a good platform to build on. 3-0 Stags.
After that we face a Tuesday night trip to Stevenage. They are currently sitting top of the league but Oxford have two games in hand. Stevenage are a good organised side who know how to win football matches in this league. There will still be a bitterness in the mouths of most Stags fans after Westleys performance at Field Mill back in September, which lead to Kyle Perry being sent off for allegedly stamping on one on their players. It’s a huge game for both sides but I think we can go there and get a point. 1-1.
Derby day is next. Tamworth away! This game was originally scheduled for the 14th February but has been moved back to Saturday 13th. I didn’t see our game against them in the FA trophy so I can’t really say how good they were but i’m pretty sure the team will be looking for revenge after that defeat. Their team has quite a few ex Mansfield players in it too, who will get a mixed reception down at The Lamb. Hopefully we will take a decent number of fans down to this. I’m certainly looking forward to it already. 0-2 Stags!
Next we pit our wits against Rushden and Diamonds at Field Mill. The return of Jefferson Louis and Aaron O’Connor. This is another game that I fully expect us to win. If they keep Tomlin or not basically means if they are good enough to challenge for the play offs or not. If they have lost Tomlin by the time we play them then I can see us running away with the game. With Tomlin it will be a closer game but I am still confident that we will win. I just hope the game is better than the boring spectacle that I witnessed at Nene Park earlier in the season. 3-1 Stags.
The biggest game of the month is next. York City at home. York are on a ridiculously good run at the moment. 10 or 11 games won in a row now I think it is. York will bring a good following to this match which will create a good atmosphere for the game. It will be a very close game and could go either way. Their team is built around Brodie and he has been subject of 2 or 3 bids so far this month so fingers crossed he will leave by the end of the month. I think we can pull of a win here and close the gap on ourselves and the top 3. 2-1 Stags.
The last game of the month is away at Hayes and Yeading. They are the worst team I have seen at Field Mill this season. Really, really poor. Since then they have picked up a bit and moved out of the relegation zone and up the table. This will be a very tough game for us and I can see us losing this. We have a bit of a habit of losing these type of games and I can see it continuing here. The team will be tired from the long month and I think the best we can hope for is a draw! If we can get a goal and hold on for the rest of the match I would be delighted! However, I can’t see that happening. 1-0 Hayes and Yeading.
14 points from a possible 21 would be a brilliant return. This would lead us into an easier March and still in the play off spots!
Picture: Richard Parkes
