Match Preview: Mansfield Town

25 March 2021

Rovers return to home soil this Saturday to take on Mansfield Town in Sky Bet League Two, 3pm kick off.

A fightback from 2-0 down on Tuesday night earned the lads a point against Colchester United. With 10 games remaining, Keith Hill’s men are in 4th position in the league and outside the automatic positions on goal difference.

Mansfield, managed by Nigel Clough, last played on Tuesday night too in a stalemate against Forest Green Rovers at the One Call Stadium. The Stags sit in 18th position in the table after 37 games played.

Team News

George Ray should be in contention to make his return to the squad after a nasty fall against Exeter City last Saturday.

Kaiyne Woolery missed Tuesday’s game with tonsillitis so his situation will be assessed in the lead up to Saturday.

Lee O’Connor remains away on international duty.

Match officials

Referee: Will Finnie

Assistant Referees: Robert Atkin and Kevin Morris

Fourth Official: Matthew Parry

One to watch

Striker, Jordan Bowery

After signing for The Stags last summer, Bowery has made his impression on Nigel Clough’s side and is their top goalscorer this campaign.

The 29 year old started his career with Chesterfield and scored ten times for the Spireites in just over 80 appearances.

A big move to Aston Villa came his way in 2012 however he only managed 19 outings in two years at Villa Park. Further moves to Rotherham, Oxford and Leyton Orient were short-lived before moving to Crewe.

A regular starting place in the Alex line up benefitted Bowery and saw a return of 20 goals in 89 appearances at Gresty Road. The forward rejected a new contract at Crewe, instead opting to join MK Dons.

Appearances were hard to come by during the 2019-20 season and Mansfield snapped up the forward at the end of that season.

So far he has netted 10 goals in all competitions for The Stags and will be a threat that Rovers will need to nullify at Prenton Park on Saturday

Match coverage

The game will be streamed live on iFollow and match passes are on sale for just £10. CLICK HERE to get your match pass.

The TRFC radio team of Phill Wilkinson, Dave Higgins and Rob Edwards will be in place at the Prenton Park to provide live updates on proceedings.

Please note season ticket holders do automatically receive home games on their iFollow accounts and will not have to pay for this fixture.

Alternatively, you can follow the action through our social media channels below, with full text coverage during the fixture, followed by a match report.

Twitter: @tranmererovers

Facebook: @trfcofficial

Instagram: @tranmererovers

Match Previews

Match Reports

Report: Tranmere 1-1 Mansfield

27 March 2021

A first half goal from Kaiyne Woolery was cancelled out by Stephen Quinn as Tranmere played out a 1-1 draw at home to Mansfield Town.

Rovers led going into the second half but a late equaliser made sure the points were shared at Prenton Park.

Tranmere saw George Ray and Woolery return to the starting line up for the game, with Ali Crawford also making a start for the hosts in midfield alongside the ever present Jay Spearing.

Rovers, who were wearing black arm bands in memory of former TRFC player and manager, Frank Worthington, who sadly passed away earlier this week, came up against a strong Mansfield team, which included former Premier League man James Perch.

In the tenth minute, captain Scott Davies went down with an injury and had to be stretched off, with Joe Murphy coming on in his place.

Soon after the restart, Woolery got goal side and hit a fierce shot at the goalkeeper, with Paul Lewis heading wide seconds later.

Tranmere were inches away from taking the lead as Peter Clarke climbed above the Mansfield defence to send a header just wide of the right-hand side.

A clever pass from Crawford picked out the run of Woolery, with his back to goal, he managed to turn to find space but sent his shot wide of the mark.

Rovers missed two great chances when Clarke once again headed wide and Crawford sent a volley onto the roof of the net from a Feeney cross.

In added time in the first half, Rovers pressure paid off as from 15 yards out, Woolery hit a fierce strike into the right hand corner, giving the Mansfield goalkeeper no chance.

A wonderful goal nearly started the second half when Feeney caught a bad clearance by the Stags custodian, but his half volley just crept wide.

Crawford couldn’t hit the target from inside the penalty box, a big chance after great play from Woolery and Keiron Morris.

Mansfield will have been frustrated not to have equalised in the 62nd minute when a deflection fell nicely for Jamie Reid to drive wide.

Jason Law had Mansfield’s next chance on the edge of the box in the 70th minute, but Murphy showed save hands for Rovers.

Rovers made a double change with Nya Kirby and David Nugent coming into the match, replacing Morris and Crawford, after a great performance by the outgoing duo.

As Kirby and Nugent entered the field of play in the 74th minute, with his first touch, the latter sent a header just over with his very first touch.

Mansfield grabbed an equaliser with 15 minutes to play as Quinn connected sweetly with a volley to make the score 1-1.

Lewis got on the end of a cross from the right as Tranmere looked to push for a second goal and regain the lead.

However, Tranmere couldn’t find the decisive winner but we moved into the automatic promotion places heading into the final matches of the campaign.

Tranmere: Davies (Murphy 11), Khan, Clarke, Ray, MacDonald, Spearing, Crawford (Kirby 73), Lewis, Morris (Nugent 73), Feeney, Woolery. Unused subs: Ridehalgh, Burton, Nelson, Lloyd.

Our next game will be on Good Friday (2nd April) as we travel to Cheltenham Town, 3pm kick-off. With the game being live on Sky Sports, only audio passes will be available for iFollow, CLICK HERE to subscribe.

The match report is sponsored by MAIN.