Managerless Doncaster Rovers will host Mansfield Town on Saturday in the second round of the FA Cup, and the home side will be looking to end a four-game winless run that resulted in Richie Wellens being relieved of his duties.
In contrast to their opponents, Mansfield have been in imperious form as they aim to make it seven wins in eight games at the weekend.
Match preview
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Doncaster enter Saturday's contest without a permanent manager after Wellens was sacked, with Rovers languishing in 23rd place in League One.
Wellens's final match in charge was an EFL Trophy game in midweek, with Doncaster eliminated after suffering a 2-0 defeat away to Crewe Alexandra.
It will be Gary McSheffrey's responsibility to take charge of first-team affairs on Saturday, and the interim boss will look to end a run of three consecutive defeats.
Saturday's hosts will be hoping that the FA Cup acts as a welcome distraction from a disappointing league campaign, and they will be aiming to emulate last season's run, when they reached the fourth round before being eliminated by West Ham United.
A 1-0 victory over Yorkshire rivals Scunthorpe United sealed their place in the second round, but after failing to score in their last four games, Doncaster may be pessimistic about a positive result on Saturday.
Mansfield head into the fixture in a buoyant mood after suffering just one defeat in their five league games, and that recent run of form has seen Nigel Clough's side climb up the League Two table.
Their attention will now turn towards cup action, and Mansfield sealed their place in the second round with a superb 1-0 away victory against Sunderland.
The Stags will be looking to reach the third round of the FA Cup for the second season in a row, and after winning six of their last seven matches, they will be confident of doing so.
Saturday's visitors collected their most recent victory last weekend, when they travelled to Crawley Town with goals from Oliver Hawkins and Rhys Oates helping Mansfield to a 2-1 win.
Their upturn in fortunes has been largely thanks to their ability to find the net with ease, demonstrated by the fact that they have scored 16 goals in their last seven games.
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Team News
Doncaster are without Joseph Olowu, who is suspended for Saturday's contest.
The hosts are also missing Ben Close, Jon Taylor and Rodrigo Vilca, who are all out injured.
Joe Dodoo is likely to lead the line, with Doncaster desperate to end their barren in front of goal.
After featuring as a makeshift centre back for a number of games, Hawkins reverted to his favourite position up front last weekend, and he will continue to partner Oates on Saturday.
Clough brought George Lapslie into midfield for the Crawley encounter, and the 24-year-old is likely to keep his place in the starting lineup.
Doncaster Rovers possible starting lineup:
Dahlberg; Knoyle, Anderson, Rowe, Horton; Smith, Galbraith, Cukur; Barlow, Hiwula, Dodoo
Mansfield Town possible starting lineup:
Bishop; Rawson, O'Toole, Forrester; Hewitt, Lapslie, Stirk, Quinn, McLaughlin; Oates, Hawkins
We say: Doncaster Rovers 1-2 Mansfield Town
Although Manfield may be in the league below Doncaster, they enter the encounter in fine form, and we think that they will continue their recent run of positive results with another victory on Saturday.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Doncaster Rovers win with a probability of 37.92%. A win for Mansfield Town had a probability of 36% and a draw had a probability of 26.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a Doncaster Rovers win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.49%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.35%) and 2-0 (6.39%). The likeliest Mansfield Town win was 0-1 (9.2%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.39%). The actual scoreline of 2-3 was predicted with a 2.4% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted that Mansfield Town would win this match.
