Football – England – League Two
Friday 26th December 2014 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
Mansfield Town registered just their second away win of the season with a 1-0 win at AFC Wimbledon on Saturday which lifted The Stags further away from the bottom two in the division.
They now entertain Hartlepool United who have really struggled on the road so far this term, and Mansfield will be pushing to record back-to-back wins for the third time this season. Mansfield’s home record stands at a reasonable 5-2-3 11/9 and along with Portsmouth and Oxford United, they possess the tightest defence at home in the bottom half of League Two.
Mansfield have kept four clean sheets so far and their notable wins on home turf include the likes of Newport County, Morecambe and Plymouth Argyle – two of those wins coming against teams in the top seven of the division.
Hartlepool United started life under new manager Ronnie Moore who had previously managed Rotherham United for a lengthy spell, with a point at home against Oxford United in a 1-1 draw. This ended a miserable run of four straight defeats, but the fact remains that The Pools have now gone nine league matches without a win.
Hartlepool have also lost their last four on the trot on their travels with defeats at Accrington Stanley, Cambridge United, Southend United and Burton Albion along with failing to score in five matches so far. their away record stands at 2-0-8 7/21 with only Carlisle United (22 goals) conceding more away goals than them in the division.
Ronnie Moore’s first job then is to tighten up The Pools’ defence on the road and this may take some time. With a busy schedule ahead it’ll be tough to find the time on the training ground, so I’ll back Mansfield and give the quarter ball in case it ends up a draw – but Mansfield might just nick this one perhaps 1-0.
Pick: Mansfield Town AH-0.25 @ 1.69 Bet Victor
