Chesterfield’s heavily anticipated Carabao Cup tie against rivals Mansfield Town takes place on Tuesday, with the Spireites looking to earn the bragging rights between fanbases and a first victory over the Stags for almost 12 years.
The Spireites have begun the 2025/26 League Two season impressively with back-to-back clean sheets, beating Barrow 1-0 at home and bringing home three points from last Saturday’s 2-0 victory at Cheltenham Town.
Paul Cook has made several quality additions to his squad and, with Mansfield having lost their first two games of the season, the Blues will go into Tuesday’s game as many people’s favourites to win.
Last match
Cook’s side continued their strong start to the season on Saturday with a dominant 2-0 win against Michael Flynn’s Cheltenham side.
Striker Lee Bonis made his first start for the Blues, replacing Will Grigg, whilst new loan signing Ronan Darcy made the bench, having joined from Wigan Athletic on Tuesday.
An early tight-angle finish from Dylan Duffy was ruled out for offside as the Spireites controlled the first half but failed to break the deadlock before half-time.
However, left-back Lewis Gordon was the unlikely man to give his side the lead just after the break with his first ever professional goal.
The former Bristol Rovers man found himself in the perfect position for the ball to bounce into the net off him after Bonis’ neat flick unluckily hit the far post.
After having his first-half goal disallowed, Duffy made amends by curling a wonderful free-kick into Joe Day’s bottom corner, much to the delight of the travelling Blues who had the best view from behind Zach Hemming’s goal.
Darcy replaced Duffy with the best part of 20 minutes remaining and looked bright and energetic in the final third.
With the game almost wrapped up, substitute Grigg saw a chance cleared off the line and Kyle McFadzean nearly added a goal of the season contender, as his 60-yard blast almost dipped into the Robins’ goal before Day tipped it over.
Three points, a clean sheet and a sunny day out completed the perfect away game for Chesterfield, but Paul Cook will have immediately turned his attention to Tuesday’s encounter.
Spireites team news
One face who all Chesterfield fans will be excited to see against Mansfield will be James Berry’s, with the winger returning to the club on a season-long loan from Wycombe Wanderers, just seven months after moving to the League One side on a permanent deal.
However, the 24-year-old is set to miss the fixture with a tight hamstring, with assistant manager Danny Webb saying it will keep him out for a week.
Cook is likely to make some changes to his team, as he did against Derby County in the first round of the competition last year, and the likes of Darcy, Matt Dibley-Dias and Adam Lewis could all be given their first starts for the club.
Devan Tanton is the only man set to be sidelined by injury so Cook has many options to choose from and he could see the tie as a chance to test out Bailey Hobson, Jamie Grimes and Paddy Madden, who have all seen limited or zero minutes so far.
However, the Spireites’ fanbase will want their strongest team to take to the field to give them the best chance of turning over the Stags, who head into the game with experienced boss Nigel Clough at the helm.
Opposition news
The former Sheffield United and Burton Albion manager is in his sixth season in charge of the Stags but has got off to a poor start with 2-1 defeats to his former side Burton and Doncaster Rovers.
Saturday’s loss at home to Grant McCann’s team saw them concede a 96th minute winner, having been one goal up with 15 minutes left.
After a 17th-placed finish in the third tier last season, they have recruited the likes of Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts and Wrexham full-back Luke Bolton this summer, as well as young trio Jamie McDonnell, Kyle McAdam and Joe Gardner, who have all arrived on loan from Nottingham Forest.
They released experienced players Stephen Quinn, Aden Flint, Lee Gregory and Christy Pym, as well as striker Lucas Akins, who was jailed for 14 months in March for causing the death of a cyclist by careless or inconsiderate driving.
Since being appointed in November 2020, Clough has taken charge of 257 matches for the Stags, winning 110 of them. 62 draws and 85 defeats leave his win percentage at 42.8% and he also guided them to promotion to League One in 2024.
Previous encounter
Tuesday’s match will be the first time the two sides have met in over seven years, with the last encounter coming in April 2018 before the Spireites’ relegation to the National League.
A second-half goal from Mal Benning gave Mansfield all three points in that game against a Chesterfield side including current Newcastle United and England goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale and club legends Ian Evatt and Drew Talbot.
The Blues’ last win against their rivals came in Paul Cook’s first spell at the club when Gary McSheffrey’s goal secured their place in the third round of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, as they eventually went on to reach the final against Peterborough United, losing 3-1.
Former Spireite Sam Clucas was in the Mansfield team that day, just 11 months before moving to Derbyshire.
Chesterfield 0-1 Mansfield Town, 14 April 2018:
Spireites lineup: Aaron Ramsdale, Drew Talbot, Ian Evatt, Laurence Maguire, George Smith, Louis Reed, Robbie Weir (Jak McCourt), Jacob Brown (Louis Dodds), Zavon Hines (Chris O’Grady), Andy Kellett, Kristian Dennis; Bench – Joe Anyon, Bradley Barry, Sid Nelson, Joe Rowley
Familiar faces
Mansfield will bring two former Spireites with them on Tuesday, with Jordan Bowery and Louis Reed returning to face the Blues.
The former made his debut for the club as a 17-year-old in 2008 and went on to spend four years with the club, making 102 appearances and scoring 17 goals before signing for Premier League side Aston Villa.
He joined the Stags in 2020 and has since been converted to a defender by Clough and played over 200 games.
Midfielder Reed spent one season on loan with Chesterfield from Sheffield United in 2017/18 and started in the April 2018 fixture.
The 28-year-old was a regular starter in a poor team and made 47 appearances in total, scoring four goals.
He joined Peterborough United shortly after and, following a two-year spell with Swindon Town, moved to Mansfield in 2023.
Match details
Chesterfield v Mansfield Town
Carabao Cup – First Round
Tuesday 12 August
19:45 KO
SMH Group Stadium, Chesterfield
