Preview: Mansfield Town vs Port Vale - prediction, team news, lineups

Mansfield Town welcome Port Vale to the One Call Stadium on Saturday afternoon for both teams' 24th match of the 2025-26 League One campaign.

The Stags beat Bradford City 3-0 in their most recent league game, while the Valiants thumped Blackpool 5-1 at Vale Park.

Match preview

Having won their previous four matches, the most recent of which being a 4-3 victory in the FA Cup against Championship side Sheffield United, Mansfield are currently on a hot run of form.

Nigel Clough's outfit only sit 12th in League One but are one of the division's form teams, with only three sides earning more points than their 10 in the previous five games.

After being winless in six, the Stags have claimed victory in their latest three league matches, all of which came against sides above them in the table at the time.

However, Mansfield have continued to struggle at the One Call Stadium, with only seven teams picking up fewer home points than Clough's side, who have earned 17 from 11 matches.

The Stags have also struggled against Port Vale recently, winning only one of their previous five home encounters with Saturday's opposition and last taking three points from the fixture in 2021.

Port Vale have massively struggled since gaining promotion from League Two last season, sitting bottom of the League One table with 18 points from 23 matches.

The Valiants have lost a huge 13 games so far this season and have suffered greatly in front of goal, netting only 18 times this campaign.

However, it seems that the Stoke-on-Trent outfit have turned a corner since sacking previous manager Darren Moore.

Under caretaker boss Jamie Smith, Port Vale demolished Blackpool on New Year's Day, beating them 5-1 and claiming their first league victory since September 27.

Since appointing permanent manager Jon Brady on January 6, the Valiants have also won back-to-back matches, beating Fleetwood Town in the FA Cup and triumphing 1-0 in their EFL Trophy round of 16 game against Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday evening.

Going into Saturday's game, Port Vale will be encouraged by their recent record against Mansfield, having won their previous four matches against the Stags and conceding only twice in that time.

Mansfield Town League One form:

Mansfield Town form (all competitions):

Port Vale League One form:

Port Vale form (all competitions):

Team News

Following an impressive cup win on Sunday afternoon, Clough will have some difficult decisions to make when finalising his team selection for this weekend's league clash.

Regan Hendry remains unavailable for the Stags after suffering a double knee and ankle blow against Harrogate Town in November, while Kyle Knoyle, Tyler Roberts and George Maris are still sidelined.

After being recruited in the January transfer window, Oliver Irow, Jonathan Russell and Victor Adeboyejo will all be available for selection too.

Unlike their hosts, Port Vale are relatively clear when it comes to injuries, with only Ben Garrity unavailable for Saturday's match after being ruled out for a lengthy period in December.

After recovering from a long-term injury, the visitors also welcomed back defender Liam Gordon on Tuesday evening as he played the second half against Bolton.

Mansfield Town possible starting lineup:

Roberts; Oshilaja, Sweeney, Cargill; Akins, McDonnell, Reed, Blake-Tracy; Moriah-Welsh, Evans, Oates

Port Vale possible starting lineup:

Amos; John, Heneghan, Humphreys; Clark, Croasdale, Byers, Shipley, Johnson; Stockley, Cole

We say: Mansfield Town 2-1 Port Vale

While Port Vale have seemingly started to turn their fortunes around, they face a firm test travelling away to Mansfield this weekend.

The Stags do not have the most convincing home record, but are on a hot streak themselves, and though it is shaping up to be a tight encounter, we believe they will be too tough a challenge for Port Vale at this moment in time.

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