Preview: Mansfield Town vs Exeter City - prediction, team news, lineups

Mansfield Town welcome Exeter City to the One Call Stadium on Saturday afternoon for their latest instalment of action in this season's League One campaign.

The Stags played out a 0-0 stalemate at home to Wycombe Wanderers in their most recent league clash, while the Grecians were thumped 4-0 by Rotherham United at St James Park.

Match preview

Since losing 2-1 at home to Stockport County on December 20, Mansfield have hugely impressed and are currently unbeaten in their previous eight matches in all competitions.

Although they have drawn their latest three league matches, the Stags currently sit 11th in the League One table with 38 points from 27 matches.

Their efforts so far leave them ten points off the playoff places, however Nigel Clough's side do have three games in hand on Huddersfield Town, who currently occupy sixth place.

Mansfield's strength this season has been their defensive solidity, with only four teams bettering the Stags' 30 goals conceded so far and no side conceding fewer than their two in the previous six matches.

The home side will also no doubt be confident that they can return to winning ways on Saturday, having beaten Exeter on the previous two occasions that the sides have met at the One Call Stadium.

If it was not for their underwhelming start to the season, there is a good chance that Exeter would currently be amongst the fight for promotion.

Over the previous 15 matches, only five sides have picked up more points than Gary Caldwell's outfit, who currently sit 13th in League One with 37 points from 28 matches.

Having pulled away from the relegation scrap in recent weeks and now sitting six points above the bottom four, the Grecians have also undoubtedly benefitted from their strong defensive record, conceding the same amount of league goals as Saturday's opponents.

However, Exeter's six-match unbeaten streak in League One came to an end in concerning fashion on Saturday afternoon when they were put to the sword by a struggling Rotherham side, who had not won an away league match since beating Barnsley 1-0 back in October.

Caldwell's side also suffered a 2-1 defeat when they hosted Mansfield earlier in the season, the Grecians' third defeat in their previous four matches against the Stags.

Mansfield Town League One form:

Mansfield Town form (all competitions):

Exeter City League One form:

Exeter City form (all competitions):

Team News

Mansfield will be without Nathaniel Jordan Bowery and George Maris for this weekend's match, both of whom have been injured since November.

Although he remains out with a calf injury, Tyler Roberts joined in with training last week and extended his stay with the club until at least the end of the season by signing a new contract on Monday.

After missing last weekend's match against Wycombe, it is yet to be determined whether Grenadian forward Lucas Akins will return on Saturday.

Both Danny Andrew and Pedro Borges have been out of action over a lengthy period for Exeter, with an imminent return looking unlikely for either.

Scottish defender Jack McMillan will also miss out after feeling uncomfortable during a training session in the week.

After completing reduced sessions over the previous few days, Ryan Rydel and Johnly Yfeko could return to the matchday squad, with the former having been a lengthy absentee.

Mansfield Town possible starting lineup:

Roberts; Oshilaja, Sweeney, Cargill; Hewitt, Lewis, Russell, Hendry, Blake-Tracy; Evans, Irow

Exeter City possible starting lineup:

Whitworth; Sweeney, Fitzwater, Woodhouse; Niskanen, Brierley, Aitchison, Doyle-Hayes, Oakes; Wareham, Mendes

We say: Mansfield Town 1-1 Exeter City

Although they have recently performed well against some of the league's better sides, earning results against the likes of Stevenage, Luton Town and Huddersfield Town, last weekend's defeat is a cause for concern amongst the Exeter faithful.

However, we expect the result to just be a blip and for the Grecians to hold Mansfield to a draw on Saturday, in what will be a relatively even bout.

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