Mansfield Town Match Preview

28 August 2020

The first competitive action of the 2020/21 season gets underway on Saturday – two weeks before the Championship starts – as North End take on Mansfield Town in the first round of the Carabao Cup.

First Team News

Watch PNE vs Mansfield Town On iFollow PNE

26 August 2020

The Lilywhites are two weeks into the preparations for the start of the league campaign, but will hope to be ready for the clash with the Stags, who are playing their first competitive match since they beat now-promoted Northampton Town back in March!

This will mean it is their first experience of the behind closed doors environment, with PNE returning to Deepdale for the first time since they defeated Birmingham City back in mid-July.

Match Information
Competition: Carabao Cup First Round
Date: Saturday 29th August, kick-off 3pm
Venue: Deepdale
Kit: 2020/21 home kit – click here to buy it now!
Other Information: If level after 90 minutes, the tie goes straight to penalties
Head To Head: PNE wins – 18; Draws – 7; Mansfield Town wins - 8

Team News
PNE manager Alex Neil has confirmed that he will be without goalkeeper Declan Rudd, who played every minute or every league game in 2018/19, with Connor Ripley and Mathew Hudson competing for the slot between the sticks.

Darnell Fisher is also missing, along with Louis Moult, who is back running outside, but is yet to join his team-mates in full training after a year on the sidelines with an ACL injury suffered at Swansea City in August 2019.

For the visitors, midfielder Ollie Clarke will continue to be assessed in the days leading up to the fixture after a recent calf strain, but defender Joe Riley will miss the game due to an ACL injury suffered in training.

Opposition View
Stags boss Graham Coughlan is looking forward to bringing his side to PR1. Speaking to Mansfield Town’s official website he admitted it would be a new experience – without the supporters – but one they were ready for.

“We can’t wait to get going and we’re looking forward to Saturday,” he began. “It’s been a long, long time [since we’ve played competitively], but we’re getting close to our first competitive game.

“The adrenaline starts to kick in and we can’t wait to get going. You miss that adrenaline rush and the atmosphere.

“Saturday will be different – it will be hard as we won’t have the fans. But there will be a competitive edge, and you do miss that competitive side of the game.

“We’ll give a good account of ourselves [on Saturday] and the lads are looking forward to it. Let’s go, enjoy it, do our best, and see where we are at five o’clock on Saturday.

“Make no mistake, we want to win the game. We’re going down there to try and make a name for ourselves.

“We want to get through it injury-free, but if there’s a tackle to be made, we’ll tackle, if there’s a header to be won, we’ll win it.”

Match Officials
The referee for Saturday's game will be Ross Joyce, with Geoffrey Liddle and Paul Newhouse the assistants and the fourth official will be Simon Mather.

Ross was last the referee of the weekend’s opponents when Mansfield lost at Bradford City back in December 2019, 2-0 at the home of the Bantams.

However, after five years on the EFL lists, this will be his first time officiating the Lilywhites.

Match Coverage
North End fans can watch Saturday's Carabao Cup first round tie with Mansfield Town live on iFollow PNE, with purchases of a £10 match pass available now.

Jonathan Breeze and former North End skipper Paul McKenna are on commentary duties, with replays, graphics and coverage from Deepdale from 2.50pm on Saturday afternoon.

Click here now to sign up for a match pass

Linked Stories
Alex Neil Ready To Face Former Club: Preston North End manager Alex Neil will take on the last team he played for in England when his Lilywhites begin their Carabao Cup campaign this weekend. Click here for the full interview.

Last Time We Met: Preston North End face Mansfield Town in Saturday’s first round of the Carabao Cup, the same competition they last met in, back in 2004. Click here for the match report.

Joe Rafferty: “I Can’t Wait For The Season To Start Again”: Joe Rafferty can’t wait to get going on Saturday afternoon as Preston North End start their 2020/21 campaign with a first round Carabao Cup tie at home to Mansfield Town. Click here for what ‘Raff’ has to say.

Former Player Preview: We catch up with former Lilywhites and Stags striker Steve Wilkinson, to look back on his time with both clubs and to look ahead to the tie. Click here for Steve's thoughts.

Match Reports

Preston North End 4 Mansfield Town 0

29 August 2020

A thoroughly professional performance from Alex Neil’s side saw the PNE overcome Mansfield Town at Deepdale by four goals to nil in the opening game of the Carabao Cup.

First Team News

Alex Neil Pleased To Progress To The Second Round

29 August 2020

Tom Barkhuizen, Sean Maguire and Patrick Bauer gave them a comfortable half-time lead and Josh Harrop – fresh from his new contract – added a fourth 20 minutes into the second half to put the Lilywhites in the hat for round two.

Tom Bayliss got the 2020/21 season underway at Deepdale and it was a positive start from the home side as Barkhuizen delivered a superb ball into the penalty area from the right-hand side, with Maguire forcing a save from Marek Stech in the Stags goal with a flicked header.

Graham Coughlan’s men had not come just to lie down, however, with a 3-5-2 formation and brave press, going man to man with the front six and they were almost rewarded with the opener on 12 minutes when the ball was cut back to the edge of the box and Andy Cook took a touch to his right and drilled an effort off the foot of the inside of the left-hand upright.

This provided the spark that North End needed and they were in front less than 90 seconds later. Maguire won a flick on, collected by Brad Potts, who sent a smart ball out to Barkhuizen on the right, with the No.29 firing a bullet like effort back across goal and just inside the post, into the far corner, doing what Cook had been unable to at the other end.

It was two before the mid-point of the first half. This time it was Harrop who was the provider, sending a perfectly weighted ball into the path of Irish international forward Maguire, who collected, controlled and calmly slotted past Stech into the Bill Shankly Kop end goal.

Potts went close with a header from another arkhuizen cross, but it was from PNE’s first corner of the day that they made it three, just before the half hour mark.

Harrop provided the cross from the left, deftly flicked on by captain Alan Browne – playing the game at right back – with the ball going all the way through to the back post to Bauer, the German sliding home from a very tight angle, almost apologetically.

There were chances to further extend the lead before half-time, with Stech saving from Harrop and then Josh Earl, making his first start for the Lilywhites since April 2019’s trip to West Brom, seeing a shot blocked by visiting skipper Ryan Sweeney.

The Stags started the second half brightly, with Cook blazing over with a left-footed shot and Connor Ripley, between the sticks for PNE, needing to make a good punch to clear Corey O’Keefe’s dangerous cross.

But the hosts came to life again quickly, with the quick feet of Harrop almost presenting himself with an opportunity, the ball eventually falling at the feet of Bayliss, whose deflected shot flat-footed Stech, but he flung out a leg to keep the ball out.

Harrop, after being involved in goals two and three, was not to be denied on 65 minutes, celebrating his contract extension with the fourth goal. Potts was bearing down on the penalty area before putting the ball out wide to Barkhuizen. The scorer of the opener turned provider, drilling the ball into the path of the No.10, who took a touch and fired hard into the top right corner from 12 yards out.

First Team News

Hunts On ‘A Different Type Of Opposition’

29 August 2020

With a place in the bag for the next round already secured, possession was now the name of the game, with Alex Neil’s side having long spells of keeping the ball, frustrating their League Two opponents.

They could have further added to their advantage; Potts firing over from 20 yards out, after a nice build-up and substitutes Scott Sinclair and Joe Rafferty both having goalbound efforts deflected, but like the first round last year – away at Bradford, where Barkhuizen and Harrop were again amongst the scorers – as well as the last time we met Mansfield, in the same competition, back in 2004, the game ended 4-0.

PNE line-up: Ripley, Browne (c), Earl, Pearson (Ledson, 70), Bauer, Huntington, Barkhuizen, Bayliss (Rafferty, 70), Maguire (Sinclair, 74), Potts, Harrop. Subs not used: Hudson, Davies, Stockley, Bodin.

Mansfield Town line-up: Stech, O’Keeffe, Benning, Menayese, Sweeney (c), Rawson (O’Driscoll, 64), Charsley, Maris, Cook, Perch (T Sinclair, 64), Rose (Reid, 76). Subs not used: Stone, Clark, Knowles, Smith.

Referee: Mr R Joyce