Mansfield Town v Crawley Town preview: Reds on the road again as they face improving Stags

Away trips to AFC Wimbledon last Sunday and Colchester last Tuesday has seen the squad do a lot of travelling but face their furthest trip of the three when they travel to Mansfield.

The Stags are beginning to improve, after a poor start to the season saw them sack Graham Coughlan and replace him with Nigel Clough. Since Clough has come in the results have got slightly better for the Stags, as they picked up their first win of the season, in his first game in charge away at Forest Green Rovers.

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Prior to Tuesday nights fixtures this remains their only league win of the season, however they were victorious in round two of the FA Cup against Dagenham and Redbridge. They had to go to extra time to beat the National League side but did eventually secure a 2-1 win thanks to 120+2 minute winner from Nicky Maynard.

This result earned them a tie against fellow League Two side Cheltenham Town. Mansfield will be focusing on pushing themselves away from the relegation zone between now and then, as they are lurking dangerously above the dotted line.

One bad result could see them move the wrong side of that line and although it is early days, no one wants to be in that position.

Crawley will also know that a few bad results could see them slip into that position, as the league is so tight at the moment.

The Reds will want to be looking up towards the play-offs, not over their shoulder towards the relegation zone. This will end off a week of away games for Crawley and they’ll be looking to end it with a victory as they will then look forward to two home games consecutively.

If Crawley can perform like they did on Sunday at Plough Lane, they’ll put themselves in a fantastic position to do so, as they worked their socks off in order to beat AFC Wimbledon.

There will be some tired legs in the camp though, with the busy fixture schedule fatigue can only be expected. This could allow a chance for some fringe players to come into the squad and stake their name for a place in the starting eleven, should John Yems need to rotate the side.

Crawley will have to have rested well in order to be full of running once more for 90 minutes and go toe to toe with Mansfield in order to pick up some much needed points.