Preview: Mansfield Town vs Stockport County - prediction, team news, lineups

Stockport County will be hoping to get back to winning ways when they take on a struggling Mansfield Town side at the One Call Stadium on Saturday.

The visitors currently sit in sixth position in the League One table, while the hosts are 16th and only one point above the relegation zone.

Match preview

Mansfield are without a win in their last five league games, but ended a run of four consecutive defeats when they drew 0-0 with Wimbledon last weekend.

Head coach Nigel Clough was happy to see his side keep only their fourth clean sheet all season, having conceded nine goals in their last four games, and he will be hoping they can pick up their first victory since October against Stockport.

The Stags are among the teams who could go down this season and they have been badly affected in recent weeks by injury and illness, with Baily Cargill, Lucas Akins and Elliott Hewitt all forced off against Wimbledon for various reasons.

One source of optimism for Mansfield is the fact they have an excellent record against Stockport, having gone unbeaten against them in their last 10 meetings across all competitions.

Stockport currently occupy the final playoff position, but they suffered a disappointing setback last weekend as they were beaten 3-1 by fellow promotion chasers Stevenage.

Kyle Wootton did score for the Hatters, but goals from Chem Campbell, Jamie Reid and Louis Thompson earned Stevenage a well-deserved victory.

Stockport have only won one of their last five league games and head coach Dave Challinor is concerned by his side's recent form, admitting after the Stevenage loss that they are "not doing the basics well enough".

However, they do boast the joint-best away record in the division and will be hoping they can take advantage of Mansfield's own struggles on Saturday.

Mansfield Town League One form:

WLLLLD

Mansfield Town form (all competitions):

LLLDLD

Stockport County League One form:

WLLDWL

Stockport County form (all competitions):

LDDDWL

Team News

Mansfield will be hoping that Cargill can recover from illness in time for Saturday's game, but Akins and Jamie McDonnell are unlikely to feature due to ankle injuries.

Joe Gardner will also miss the game through illness, while Rhys Oates is suspended and Luke Bolton, Jordan Bowery, Regan Hendry, Kyle Knoyle, George Maris and Tyler Roberts are injured.

Hewitt should be fine after recovering from the knock he suffered against Wimbledon and is likely to start out wide, with Stephen McLaughlin in line to replace Cargill in the back three and Dom Dwyer expected to replace Akins.

Stockport are set to welcome back veteran midfielder Oliver Norwood, who has been out of action for over a month after needing surgery on a blood clot in his leg.

However, it is unlikely he will start and Ben Osborn and Owen Moxon could line up in the centre of the park as a result.

Wootton will once again lead the line after scoring against Stevenage, while Malik Mothersille and Tayo Edun could drop out of the starting lineup for Jayden Fevrier and Owen Dodgson after they were withdrawn at half time.

Mansfield Town possible starting lineup:

Roberts; McLaughlin, Oshilaja, Sweeney; Hewitt, McDonnell, Reed, Blake-Tracy; Moriah-Welsh, Dwyer; Evans

Stockport County possible starting lineup:

Hinchcliffe; Onyango, Olowu, Pye; Gardner, Osborn, Moxon, Dodgson; Diamond, Fevrier; Wootton

We say: Mansfield Town 0-1 Stockport County

Despite their recent struggles, Stockport will be the favourites and we are backing them to pick up a much-needed victory against a Mansfield side that have been badly affected by injury and illness.

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