Preview: Mansfield Town vs Doncaster Rovers - prediction, team news, lineups

Aiming to get up and running at the second attempt in the 2025-26 League One campaign, Mansfield Town welcome Doncaster Rovers to the One Call Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Stags succumbed to two stunning strikes in an opening 2-1 loss to Burton Albion, whereas their upcoming visitors battled hard to claim a 1-0 win over Exeter City on matchday one.

Match preview

The 11 years of Chelsea training under Charlie Webster's belt were on full display at the Pirelli Stadium last weekend, as the former Blues academy graduate - who was at Stamford Bridge from 2013 to 2024 - put two wonderful goals past Mansfield either side of the break.

Webster's first sumptuous curler preceded a powerful second before Baily Cargill's header cut the deficit in half for Mansfield, but Nigel Clough's men could not find that all-important second goal in the short time that remained.

Little can be made of the hosts' 14th-placed ranking in the League One table at this juncture, though, and Clough affirmed that he saw "a lot of encouraging things" from his troops during their opening-day defeat.

The Stags had a little over 60% of the ball at the Pirelli Stadium and matched Burton's tally of 13 shots, but while the victors' hero Webster was at his clinical best, Mansfield's attackers failed to replicate his ruthlessness on the day.

However, Mansfield found the back of the net in each of their final six League One home matches of the 2024-25 season - including seven in their last two against Peterborough and Exeter City - although Doncaster enjoyed their fair share of away successes in the previous months.

Grant McCann's newly-promoted charges huffed and puffed but struggled to make the breakthrough against Exeter City on matchday one, although that was only until the 88th minute and a controversially-awarded penalty for handball.

Luke Molyneux ensured that Doncaster would make the most of that decision going their way, stroking home the decisive spot kick in a narrow success for the third-tier returnees, who were more than worthy victors on the balance of play.

McCann's side limited Exeter to just 35% of the ball and two shots - neither of which were on target - while Doncaster fired 14 attempts of their own, albeit while only finding the mark with three of them.

While the visitors could evidently do with some finishing work, their attacking intent was there for all to see last weekend, and they are on a five-game unbeaten league run away from home ahead of their sojourn to the One Call Stadium.

However, Doncaster have not got the better of Mansfield in any competition since a 1-0 League Two victory in April 2017, as the Stags have since strung together a six-match unbeaten run against Saturday's visitors, most recently claiming a 1-1 draw in December 2023.

Mansfield Town League One form:

Doncaster Rovers League One form:

Team News

Mansfield were forced to cope without Nottingham Forest-owned striker Joe Gardner for their opening loss to Burton Albion, as the 20-year-old sustained a nasty ankle injury during a pre-season friendly with Sligo Rovers.

Gardner is expected to spend a total of six weeks on the sidelines, so Will Evans and Rhys Oates should hold the fort up front for now, although Dom Dwyer is an alternative option.

Gardner is one of three Forest loanees currently representing the Stags alongside midfield duo Jamie McDonnell and Kyle McAdam, but the latter's place is under threat from Stephen McLaughlin.

On Doncaster's end, their opening triumph over Exeter was slightly overshadowed by a painful first-half injury to right-back Jamie Sterry, who is feared to have suffered a fractured cheekbone in a penalty-box collision.

McCann hopes that Sterry will recover from surgery relatively quickly, but he will certainly be unavailable on Saturday, while fellow right-back Tom Nixon was also absent from the matchday squad last weekend.

If the latter remains out of contention, either Sean Grehan or Jack Senior may be utilised as an emergency option, while 39-year-old Billy Sharp should lose out to Brandon Hanlan up top again.

Mansfield Town possible starting lineup:

Roberts; Knoyle, Cargill, Sweeney; Bolton, McDonnell, Maris, Reed, McLaughlin; Oates, Evans

Doncaster Rovers possible starting lineup:

Lo-Tutala; Grehan, O'Riordan, Pearson, Maxwell; Broadbent, Bailey, Clifton; Molyneux, Hanlan, Ajayi

We say: Mansfield Town 1-1 Doncaster Rovers

Mansfield are still waiting for their first clean sheet against Doncaster in the 21st century - they last shut out Rovers back in 1998 - and the visitors' scoring streak should continue in gameweek two.

However, Clough witnessed some green shoots of recovery in his side's loss to Burton, while McCann's men were not exactly prolific last weekend, so a score draw seems the most likely outcome.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.