Riding high off of a 4-1 home win against Northampton Town on Boxing Day, Reading return to the Select Car Leasing Stadium to play Mansfield Town. Join us as we take a closer look at the opposition.
Mansfield Town secured promotion to League One last season, taking the final automatic promotion spot after finishing third in the league, eight points ahead of MK Dons, who finished fourth.
This ended an 11-year spell in the fourth tier, having won promotion from the Conference in 2013. They have had a relatively good start to life in the third tier, currently sitting eighth in the league, two places and three points behind Reading, after playing one game fewer.
Their recent form has been mixed, having seen two wins, one draw and two losses in their last five games. They come into this weekend’s game off the back of two straight wins and secured an impressive 0-3 away win at Peterborough United on Boxing Day.
The two sides last faced each other over 30 years ago, in the old Division 2, playing out a 1-1 draw at Field Mill, before Reading claimed a 3-1 win at Elm Park, after goals from Stuart “Archie” Lovell, Mick Gooding and Scott Taylor.
Nigel Clough: Clough became Mansfield manager in November 2020, taking over from Graham Coughlan, who spent just under a year in charge of The Stags. Clough had a 20-plus year career as a player and was a forward who represented the likes of Nottingham Forest, Liverpool, Manchester City and Burton Albion, while also picking up 14 caps for England.
Son of the famous Brian Clough, Nigel followed in his father’s footsteps, taking up his first managerial role at Burton in 1998, where he became player/manager. He spent over 11 years at Burton, managing them in non-League.
Clough went on to join Derby County in January 2009, where he spent four and a half years managing them in the Championship. He then joined Sheffield United in 2013 before returning to Burton, where his managerial journey had started, in 2015. He guided Burton to the Championship in his first season, after finishing second in League One, and managed to keep them in the second tier for two seasons, before suffering relegation in 2018.
Clough left Burton in 2020 and went on to join Mansfield in the same year. He guided the Stags to promotion to League One last season, after 16th-, seventh- and eighth-place finishes in his previous seasons.
The 58-year-old is a strong tactician who demands hard work from his sides.
Mansfield prepared for life in League One with the signing of seven players in the off-season.
Permanent signings included forward Will Evans, who signed from Newport County for an undisclosed fee, while defender Frazer Blake-Tracey, midfielders Keanu Baccus and Adedeji Oshilaja, winger Ben Quinn and striker Lee Gregory all joined on free transfers. They also completed the loan signing of forward Ben Waine, who joined from Championship Plymouth Argyle.
Key outgoings over the summer included defender John-Joe O’Toole, midfielders Anthony Hartigan and Davis Keillor-Dunn and forward Will Swan.
Defender Baily Cargill and midfielder George Maris are both fitness doubts for this game.
Pym, Bowery, Oshilaja, McLaughlin, Reed, Hewitt, Blake-Tracey, Baccus, Lewis, Evans, Akins
Will Evans: Forward Evans joined Mansfield this summer, signing from Newport County for an undisclosed fee. He started his career in the youth system at Shrewsbury Town, but he ended up at Cardiff Metropolitan University and played for their team in the Welsh Cymru League.
After university he stayed in Wales and signed for Bala Town, before joining Newport County in 2022. Evans spent two seasons with Newport, making 107 appearances and scoring 29 goals.
The 27-year-old signed for Mansfield this summer and already has eight goals to his name so far this season, making him the side’s top scorer. Evans predominantly plays as a striker, but can also play on the wing. He is a strong finisher but also contributes defensively.
Keanu Baccus: Midfielder Baccus signed for Mansfield this May, following the end of his contract with St Mirren.
Baccus started his career in Australia where he made his way through the Western Sydney Wanderers academy. He made his A League debut in 2017 and went on to make 112 appearances for the club, scoring six goals. He joined Scottish Premiership side St Mirren in 2022, where he stayed two seasons, making a further 72 career appearances.
The 26-year-old has played a part in all but one Mansfield league game this season and has one goal and four assists to his name. Baccus is a full Australian international and has 21 Socceroo caps so far, having made his debut in 2022.
The central midfielder has strong defensive qualities while also liking to dribble through the middle of the park.
