Next Up: Exeter City vs Mansfield Town
Gary Caldwell took a risk by changing the entire outfield for the EFL Cup match at Cheltenham on Wednesday, and this backfired spectacularly as City went down with a whimper 2-0, in truth it could and should have been a lot worse. If anything could be taken from that debacle it was that many of the personnel involved will need to content themselves with only playing a fringe role. At least also the players who starred against Blackpool last weekend will have been rested up ahead of the early kick off on Saturday and therefore City will hope to bounce back immediately against a side that has made a poor start in the league but celebrated a derby victory in the EFL Cup on Tuesday.
Having had a topsy-turvy season last time, starting superbly but dropping like a stone before recovering late on, Mansfield will be hoping for a more settled campaign this time round. However, defeats against Burton and Doncaster in their opening league fixtures will not have been on the agenda, although this has been offset by a 2-0 win at rivals Chesterfield in the EFL Cup. Unlike City, Nigel Clough’s side had a familiar feel to it on Tuesday with fewer changes made, although whether this gives City a stamina advantage on Saturday remains to be seen. Clough was busy during the summer with a number of players arriving and leaving – all three of the ex-City players departed for pastures new in the summer, with Liam Roberts from Millwall replacing the Grimsby-bound Christy Pym in goal. Nottingham Forest has provided the Stags with three loanees, the benefit of having a Premier League club at close quarters.
The spoils were shared last season with the home sides triumphing on each occasion. The corresponding fixture, postponed several times for different reasons before finally being played in mid-March, finished 2-0 to City with goals from Mitchell and Angus MacDonald, while Mansfield closed off the season with revenge in a 3-0 win through McLaughlin, Dwyer and Waine. City hold a slender lead in league head to heads with 28 wins to Mansfield’s 24, 19 matches finishing level.
The match officials for this game will be:-
Referee: Ollie Yates
Assistant Referees: Oliver Taylor and Steven Plane
Fourth Official: Lewis Sandoe
Ollie Yates took charge of two Exeter games last season, the televised 4-1 defeat away at Stevenage in February, and the 3-1 win over Huddersfield at St James Park in April. Last season Ollie refereed 28 games, showing 123 yellow cards and sending off five players.
Interview with Gary Caldwell
Interview with Ilmari Niskanen