Match Round 2 in the Sky Bet Football League gets under way with Notts County taking on local rivals Mansfield Town on Friday in a 7.45pm kick-off.
Local derbies are always highly anticipated affairs but this one has added importance, given it's the first time the two have clashed in The Football League for seven years.Aside from last season's Johnstone's Paint Trophy meeting, which County won 2-0 at Meadow Lane, the pair haven't locked horns since March 2008.
On that day, neither side managed to find the net, and it's one of four draws in their last five encounters. The exception from that is the Stags' 2-0 victory against the Magpies in October 2007, which was sealed courtesy of a Michael Boulding brace.
Head-to-head
Meetings: 41
Notts County wins: 17
Mansfield wins: 12
Draws: 12
So far so good for County
They may have lost their most recent meeting with Mansfield, but Ricardo Moniz's men go into Friday night's clash after two positive results, starting 2015/16 in style following relegation last term.
They brushed aside Stevenage in last weekend's Sky Bet League 2 opener, before coming from behind to beat Sky Bet Championship side Huddersfield Town in the Capital One Cup, largely thanks to a spectacular 35-yard lob from two-goal Liam Noble.
Adam Murray: “It's going to be a cauldron”
Mansfield picked up a point on the first day in League 2, sharing the spoils with Carlisle United, but they were thumped 4-1 by Sheffield Wednesday in Round 1 of the Capital One Cup in midweek.
Stags boss Adam Murray has warned his players not to sit back against their rivals, insisting they must take the game to County.
““We’re not going there to watch Notts County, we’re going there to make it a thunderous environment. We want a tempo, we’re going to get in to them and they’re going to know they're in a game,” Murray told mansfieldtown.net.
"So we need to go in to that game fully focussed on three points. We already know a bit about them [Notts County] and we need to go there and stamp our authority on the game.”
Coverage
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