Official Match Thread Southend United v Mansfield Town

[The Big Dady]

The Official Match Thread brought to you by ShrimperZone.com

So here we are the thirteenth League Two home game of the 2020/21 season and Mark Molesley’s thirteenth league home game in charge as manager of the Mighty Shrimpers.

Our 13th League Two match at home is against Mansfield Town



It is now time for ALL of us to get behind him and the team whether you are listening on the radio, listening or watching on ifollow, you can still make that famous "Roots Hall Roar” at home.

Mark Molesley’s 13th Southend United League two Home Team of the 2020/21 season



The Roots Hall pitch looks fantastic and is 3.00pm Saturday 23rd January 2021 against Mansfield Town. It looks like it is going to be overcast this afternoon, but with some sunny intervals and a gentle breeze at Roots Hall.





Here is the weather forecast for this afternoon at Roots Hall



Current League home record after 12 home games

Won 4
Dawn 1
Lost 7
Goals scored 11
Goals conceded 18

League Positions Last Season

22nd (2019/20 Season) League One Southend United (Relegated)
21st (2019/20 Season) League Two Mansfield

League Positions Current Season

14th (2020/21 Season) League Two Mansfield Town
24th (2020/21 Season) League Two Southend United

Recent League Position Change



Previous Five Meetings

Mansfield Town 1-1 Southend United (L2 19/12/20 Att. 0)
Southend United 2-0 Mansfield Town (L2 03/04/15 Att. 5925)
Mansfield Town 1-2 Southend United (L2 01/11/14 Att. 2,719)
Mansfield Town 2-1 Southend United (L2 08/02/14 Att. 3,055)
Southend United 3-0 Mansfield Town (L2 01/11/13 Att. 4,824)

Head to Head record

Southend United Wins: 19
Draws: 14
Mansfield Town Wins: 21

Current Form

Mansfield Town D W W W W
Southend United W L W D L


Come On You Blues!​

 

[The Big Dady]

Managers Pre-match Views​

Manfield Town

Mansfield Town Manager Nigel Clough talks to their OS before travelling to Roots Hall.

Boss aiming to maintain excellent form

Mansfield Town Manager Nigel Clough​

Let’s keep this run going’ was the message from manager Nigel Clough ahead of this weekend’s match away at Southend United, with the Stags looking to make it five wins in a row in Sky Bet League Two.

The clash at Roots Hall will be the first competitive fixture for Mansfield since last Wednesday’s win over Oldham, following Saturday’s home match against Carlisle being postponed, due to positive COVID-19 tests in the Blues’ camp.

Nigel Clough previewed Saturday’s match against the Shrimpers, emphasising his desire for the Stags to maintain their impressive recent form.

“The players had a rest over the weekend, and have come back in ready to work again,” the boss told iFollow Stags.

“We saw a Southend side come here [One Call Stadium] and knock it about against us, but we’ve also seen them two or three times, and they have played differently.

“Against Cambridge, they went quite direct in the first-half and caused them problems. They are one of those teams where you’re not quite sure what you are going to face.

“They [Southend] played well [against us] in the first-half and got that one-goal lead. It was that finish from Jordan Bowery late in the game that got us a point.

“When you look at the squad on paper, they have some very good, experienced players.

“We’re finding that out across the league, that there are certainly no easy games. For different reasons, they are all as difficult as each other.

“We’ve had a great run with our four league wins on the spin, but we’re all too aware that a couple of defeats could see us looking at the bottom few again.

“We want to avoid that, so that’s the incentive to the players. Let’s start looking up as much as we can and keep this run going, and see where it takes us.”

Two midfielders put pen-to-paper with the Stags over the last few days, with Stephen Quinn arriving on loan from Burton Albion, and George Lapslie making a permanent switch from Charlton Athletic.

The manager spoke of both signings, adding: “He [Quinn] will bring experience in the midfield area, which is very important. We have a generally young midfield, so we needed some experience in there.

“Some tenacity never goes amiss – I think his experience and his competitiveness will be an asset to us in the second half of the season.

“It [Lapslie permanent deal] is a brilliant signing for the club. We’re delighted that we have secured him for the next two-and-a-half seasons.

“I think he’s shown in the last few months that he is a goalscoring midfielder with potential to improve, and there aren’t many of those around.

“He fits in very well with the work ethic and the type of player that we are trying to bring in.

“We hope to do a little bit more in the last ten days of the window. In an ideal world, we’ll get a couple more in and two or three out.”

Along with the two incomings, this week saw the permanent departure of midfielder Alistair Smith to Altrincham, and defender Rollin Menayese going out on loan to Grimsby Town.

“I think it’s great for him [Smith] – he went there [Altrincham] on loan a few weeks ago, and he’s been playing week-in, week-out,” added Nigel Clough.

“It would be very difficult for him to break into our team with the strength of the midfield that we have, so I think it’s a great opportunity for him.

“He [Menayese] asked to go on loan because he wasn’t starting regularly. He was a bit unlucky, as he did very well at Cambridge when he came in.

“But we’ve been very pleased with the pairing of Faz [Rawson] and Ryan Sweeney, and James Perch when he stepped in as well.

“He [Menayese] has gone down the pecking order a little bit, so he asked if he could go out and get some games. I think that’s brilliant when a player wants to go out and play, so he’s gone with our blessing.

“Hopefully he’ll get 20-odd games before the end of the season, and we’ll take it from there.”

There was also an injury update from the boss ahead of Saturday’s clash with Southend.

“It’s just Ollie Clarke [out injured] really. James Perch is back in training after his illness.

“Ollie is still feeling the effects of that whack on his knee. He hasn’t joined in training yet, but we’re hoping on Friday he may do that. Then we’ll assess his chances for Saturday.

“Tyrese [Sinclair] hasn’t started training yet. It’s going to be a slow process with him, as he had a run the first day after his isolation finished and he didn’t feel too good.

“We all know about the effects of coronavirus, despite him being asymptomatic, and everyone recovers differently.

“We’re going to take it very easy with him and be very cautious. He’ll build up slowly in training.”

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Southend United

Mark Molesley talked on ifollow OS before today’s game with Mansfield Town

Southend United Manager Mark Molesley during interview on ifollow​

Link to watch on ifollow
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Mark Molesley talks to Chris Phillips at the Echo before today’s game with Mansfiels Town

Mark Molesley eyes attacking improvement for Southend United

Wanting more - Southend United boss Mark Molesley (right) is keen for his side to hit the back of the net more regularly​

Southend United manager Mark Molesley is plotting to make the Shrimpers more prolific.

Blues have scored just 15 goals in 23 League games so far this season.

And Molesley knows that has to get better, starting with Saturday's match with Mansfield Town at Roots Hall.

“It’s an area we’ve got to look to improve straight away,” said the Blues boss.

“We’re working hard to do that and on Tuesday we had a lot of the ball in good areas.

“We were very unlucky to not get more than one goal.

“We hit the post and their keeper made a couple of good saves.

“We’re making good chances and I think we’re showing more intent to score goals too.

“Hopefully we will start seeing the rewards of that work.”

But Molesley also admitted he had made a conscious effort to make Blues harder to break down.

“We’ve also had a strong impetus on getting ourselves solid and building a strong foundation,” said the 39-year-old.

“That’s started from our defensive displays and we’ve shown big improvements there.

“We’ve got to work that through the pitch now but it’s a team effort in all areas.

“We’re still a new team really so it’s work in process and we’re looking to improve our so called weaknesses.”

Blues remain bottom of the table, a point from safety.

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The Big Preview​

Southend United vs Mansfield Town


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Overview

Blues are back at Roots Hall once again as they entertain Mansfield Town tomorrow afternoon in the second of three successive home games for Mark Molesley’s side.

After defeat in midweek, Southend will be hoping to bounce back against a resurgent Stags side who have started to show some form under boss Nigel Clough.

And with Blues knowing that a win on Saturday could see them climb out of the League Two relegation zone, it’s an opportunity that Southend can ill afford to miss.

Form

Blues were unfortunate to see their four-game unbeaten run at home come to an end in midweek as Cambridge came from behind to beat Southend 2-1 and go top of the table.

Despite that defeat to the U’s, Mark Molesley’s side have been in good form as of late and have picked up two wins and two draws from their last six outings.

Mansfield come into the weekend unbeaten in five matches and have won all of their last four thanks to victories against Scunthorpe, Port Vale, Salford and Oldham.

Last Meeting

Saturday 19th December 2020

Mansfield Town 1-1 Southend United

Bowery 79’; Olayinka 27’

The league’s draw specialists were at it again as Mansfield scored late on to grab a point against Southend in the two side’s last meeting just before Christmas.

James Olayinka scored a superb opener midway through the first-half, but after a prolonged spell of Mansfield pressure in the second-half, Jordan Bowery equalised to ensure the points were shared.

From The Boss

“They’ve [Mansfield] got a vastly experienced squad, some very good players, and the new management have really turned the club's fortunes around.

“It just shows you that if you can get a good run going you can get yourself clear, so we need to try and replicate what they’ve done.

“It’s going to be another tough game against an in-form team with plenty of threats to worry about, but we’ve shown that we’re up for the battle and challenge.

“We’ve got to show a quick reaction from the Cambridge game, we did just that after losing to Leyton Orient.

“There were plenty of positives from Tuesday’s game and of course things we need to improve on, but there were good things for us to build on and we can take a lot of confidence from that going into Saturday.”

Blues Team News

James Olayinka, whose loan from Arsenal is due to expire at the end of this month, looks to have played his final game for Blues after the midfielder picked up an ankle ligament injury at Grimsby.

Fellow midfielder Terrell Egbri has missed Blues’ last three games with a hamstring problem which is expected to keep him out of the side for a few more weeks yet.

Brandon Goodship, however, is back in training following a rib injury, but he isn’t expected to feature against Mansfield as he builds his fitness after some time out of the squad.

Mansfield Dangerman

Striker Jordan Bowery looks set to be one of Mansfield’s biggest threats at the weekend with the 29-year-old finding himself in a rich vein of scoring form since his last clash with Blues.

After scoring the goal which cost Southend all three points in Nottinghamshire before Christmas, the former Aston Villa man went on to score in his next three matches.

That scoring run included a hat-trick in a 4-0 thumping of Port Vale, with the Stags frontman being the driving force behind the club’s recent good run of form.

Ref Watch

Tomorrow’s meeting with Mansfield will be officiated by Benjamin Speedie, with Andy Bennett and Joseph Stokes the assistants and Louis Marks the fourth official.

Speedie has so far taken charge of 18 games across Leagues One and Two, and in cup competitions, showing a total of 50 yellow cards and three reds.

This will be Speedie’s first visit to Roots Hall and first Blues game having officiated in the National League last season, though he has taken charge of Mansfield once already this campaign.

iFollow Blues

With fans not able to attend Roots Hall in person, Blues supporters can watch tomorrow’s clash with Mansfield by picking up a Match Pass on iFollow Blues for £10.

A Match Pass will allow you to watch the game on your laptop, computer, tablet or mobile device with Season Ticket holders already having access to their pass via their iFollow account.

For more information on how you can get your Match Pass and ensure you miss none of the action at Roots Hall on iFollow Blues, click here.

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Come On You Blues!​

 

[The Big Dady]

Mansfield Town's team

 

[GBJ]

McLaughlin to score at anytime is 9/2. Money in the bank?

 

[RHB]

On paper that looks quite a strong attacking line-up. It will be interesting to see the formation that starts.

 

[Boreham Blue]

Looks like a 5 at the back again unless he has a different role for Halford in mind

 

[Strykr]

Well up for this one. Gonna be tough. But we can do it. UTB

 

[Blues4LifeDan]

Halford is way to slow to react to play at the back. Really thought he was going to be a target man in the last 15 mins when signed.

 

[The Big Dady]

Official Team Sheet

 

[Tommy2holes]

Looking out our line up today.

7 or 8 of those players has at least played in league 1.

They might not be spring chickens but there is a lot of games between them and a few younger lads with promising careers ahead of them.

This isn't a team that will finish 24th place.

 

[Jay_SUFC]

Looks like a 5 at the back again unless he has a different role for Halford in mind

I really hope it's not 5 at the back

 

[BILLERICAY BLUE]

4-3-3 with Halford down the middle?

 

[OllieSteph44]

Looks like an experienced side bit one lacking real mobility and energy in what is sure to be energy sapping conditions.

 

[Wobbler]

It isn't 5 at the back (if that is indeed what MM is going with, Halford could well be playing up front). It's a three with Elvis and Hart as wing-backs with plenty of license to go forward and provide the width, which for me suits them much better than playing as part of a back 4.

I like the shape but if we're to persist with it an upgrade on Halford becomes as urgent a need as the big centre forward everyone is crying out for.

 

[MisterStubbs]

Not a fan of 5 at the back. Hobson doesn’t look comfortable at all when played left of a 3. I really don’t underhand why MM has moved away from the 4-3-3/4-2-3–1 that was getting us results. To me we are giving opposition far to much respect, that’s fine away from home but today is another chance to get ourselves out of the bottom three and we’ve gone with a defensive lineup.

 

[Rob1920]

Who's O'Shane Stewart? One of the yoofs?

 

[MisterStubbs]

Who's O'Shane Stewart? One of the yoofs?

Yeah, central midfielder.

 

[Jay_SUFC]

It isn't 5 at the back (if that is indeed what MM is going with, Halford could well be playing up front). It's a three with Elvis and Hart as wing-backs with plenty of license to go forward and provide the width, which for me suits them much better than playing as part of a back 4.

I like the shape but if we're to persist with it an upgrade on Halford becomes as urgent a need as the big centre forward everyone is crying out for.

It's never 3 at the back, we'll be overrun out wide, so there is no licence for the fallbacks to attack

 

[Chrisb]

Shame to read that Egbri will be out for a few more weeks.

 

[Ricey]

Reckon McLauglin might score today.