Newport County AFC travel to Mansfield Town on Friday evening looking to back up their hard-fought victory at the beginning of the week.
County got their promotion charge back on track with a 1-0 win over Bolton Wanderers, while Mansfield are looking to pull away from the relegation battle.
Here, you can find all the facts and statistics ahead of this Sky Bet League Two fixture...
The opposition - Mansfield Town
Mansfield Town head into Friday’s game in 19th place, with 45 points on the board. The Stags have achieved nine wins this season, drawn 18 and lost 13.
Town endured a tough start to their league campaign, having to wait until 11 games in for their first win. But their form massively improved at the turn of the year after winning five consecutive games to lift the spirits at the club.
More recently, Mansfield have drawn five of their last seven, having not won since early March. A win on Friday could be what is needed to spark another run.
Team news
Monday’s match-winner Nicky Maynard will be unavailable for the Exiles as they face his parent club, but manager Michael Flynn has plenty of options to deputise. Defender Mickey Demetriou is also back in contention after serving a one-match suspension following his dismissal against Barrow.
Mansfield have announced that on-loan forward Oli Sarkic has returned to his parent club following an injury. Elsewhere, their only other absentee remains Joe Riley, who is recovering from a long-term injury.
One to watch – Jordan Bowery
Jordan Bowery is one of Town’s top appearance makers this season, and has translated this into goals. The forward has 10 goals to his name this season, which have been key to important victories for the Stags.
The highlight of Bowery’s season came when he netted in four matches in a row, including a hat-trick against Port Vale in a 4-0 win.
The 29-year-old joined Mansfield in June 2020 after leaving MK Dons. He has had previous spells at Chesterfield, Aston Villa and Crewe.
Manager – Nigel Clough
Mansfield Town appointed Nigel Clough in early November, when he took over from Graham Coughlan.
Clough’s arrival saw an immediate upturn in fortunes for the Stags, achieving the club’s first win of the season in his first game in charge. His first 13 games brought seven wins to inject some optimism into their campaign.
Prior to taking over at the One Call Stadium, the 55-year-old had spells in charge of Derby County, Sheffield United and Burton Albion.
Last meeting between the sides
County and Mansfield met at Rodney Parade in the fourth fixture of the Sky Bet League Two campaign, and it was County that came out on top after late drama.
The visitors opened the scoring through a fine finish from Stephen McLaughlin, but were pegged back ten minutes later by a strike from Scott Twine.
The County winner came courtesy of an 88th-minute penalty, dispatched cooly by Matty Dolan to continue the Exiles’ fine early season form.