Mansfield Town are preparing for their biggest FA Cup game this season against Arsenal on Saturday, amid a disappointing run of form in League One.
The Stags scored ten times in their first three matches of the year, beating Port Vale and Bradford City 3-0, while shocking Championship Sheffield United in a seven-goal thriller.
But the Nottinghamshire outfit are winless in the third tier since defeating the Valiants in the middle of January, a run of eight league games without victory.
FA Cup Distractions?
There weren’t really any signs of this current run, and that winless sequence doesn’t tell the full story. Mansfield drew four successive matches after overcoming Vale, before slipping to defeat in the midweek prior to their 4th round tie at Burnley. Losing against Peterborough United ended their nine-match unbeaten run, while effectively ruling them out of an unlikely play-off push in the final months of the season.
After falling behind to the top-flight Clarets, it appeared their campaign was going to fizzle out. But Rhys Oates and Louis Reed completed the second-half turnaround for the third-tier outfit, setting up this Saturday’s glamour tie against the Premier League leaders. Defeats to Blackpool and Lincoln City continued their miserable run in the league, before taking a point against AFC Wimbledon last weekend.
Jon Russell, who got both goals against Wimbledon at the weekend, spoke to BBC Radio Nottingham to address their differing fortunes in the league and cup.
“We’ve done really well in the FA Cup and we need to take the results and performances into our league games. It’s the way football is, you can get a team at the bottom of the league do well in cup games, it’s just one of those things.
“I’m happy with my performances lately but getting the two goals is big for me, I’m a lot more confident to keep going. I’ll continue to work and be as effective as I can. I’ll look to take it into the next game.”
Immediate Focus On League One
The Jamaican international, who began his career with Chelsea, was allowed to leave Barnsley at the start of January for their League One rivals. Russell has played ten times for the Stags, starting five third-tier games. He came off the bench at Bramall Lane in January, before completing an hour in the tie at Turf Moor last month.
With their third-tier safety far from confirmed, all eyes will be on Mansfield’s huge clash against Rotherham United tomorrow evening. The Nottinghamshire outfit have games in hand on most sides around them in the table, but are now just four points clear of the relegation places. Home fixtures against Reading and Russell’s parent club, Barnsley, are quickly on the horizon in the next couple of weeks.