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The Cumbrians face a trip to Field Mill, the home of the Stags, tomorrow, needing to turn around their fortunes at the ground. The Blues will be hoping to improve upon a record which has seen them ending up on the losing side in just over half of the games played between the two at the Nottinghamshire ground.
Field Mill has been quite kind to United on some occasions over the years though. Carlisle clinching automatic promotion there, after a 0-0 draw in the 1996-97 season, and receiving a relegation stay of execition there almost exactly two years ago in an oft-remembered 3-2 victory, that being the most recent encounter between the two sides at the home of Mansfield.
Matty Glennon was the United hero that day as the Stockport-born keeper saved a last minute Liam Lawrence to penalty to preserve Carlisle's Football League status for another week. Kevin Gray and Andy Preece had set the Blues off to a perfect start, putting them 2-0 ahead after just 21 minutes in front of a crowd of 5,361 spectators. The home side, who were looking to cement their place in the promotion play-offs, fought back though, Lawrence successfully converting his first spot-kick after 27 minutes to bring the deficit back to one goal. Lawrence was again in the thick of the action bang on half-time when he lobbed Glennon to send the teams in level at the break, much to the chagrin of over 1,000 travelling Cumbrians. There was only one goal in the second half though and fortunately that came the way of United when the on-loan Kelvin Langmead scored his only goal for the Blues in the 66th minute. Carlisle hung on bravely until the end, in the face of an attacking onslaught from the home side, with Glennon's heroics ensuring that the three points went back up the A1.
The Cumbrians were eventually relegated to the Conference, however, seven days later when they only drew 1-1 at home to Cheltenham Town, Kayode Odejayi grabbing a late equaliser in the 85th minute for the Robins, with 9,524 fans packed into Brunton Park.
For a detailed analysis of the head-to-head between the two sides, click here
| Recent encounters between the teams: | |||||
| 2005/2006 | Sat 15 Oct | Carlisle | 1 - 0 | Mansfield | LGE2 |
| 2003/2004 | Sat 24 Apr | Mansfield | 2 - 3 | Carlisle | LGE2 |
| 2003/2004 | Sat 15 Nov | Carlisle | 0 - 2 | Mansfield | LGE2 |
| 2001/2002 | Sat 20 Apr | Mansfield | 2 - 0 | Carlisle | LGE2 |
| 2001/2002 | Sat 10 Nov | Carlisle | 0 - 1 | Mansfield | LGE2 |
| 2000/2001 | Sat 27 Jan | Carlisle | 2 - 1 | Mansfield | LGE2 |
| 2000/2001 | Fri 22 Dec | Mansfield | 1 - 1 | Carlisle | LGE2 |
Recent respective form guides
The Stags have lost just once in their last six home games, winning four and drawing the other one, although they haven't won any of their last three games at Field Mill. These high-scoring games have yielded a total of 11 goals for the Stags, with four goals against, however, five of those goals scored however came in a 5-0 home drubbing of Boston United.
United have had a decent run of form away from home recently, with three victories and just one loss from the last six matches on the road. Those games have seen the Cumbrians hit home 11 goals, and let in only five, three of those goals conceded coming in a 3-0 defeat at Macclesfield way back at the end of January.
The Stags see themselves just below half way in the table, currently occupying 15th place with a record of 52 points from their 43 games played so far. Town are seven points above the dreaded drop-zone and nine short of the last play-off spot so it looks extremely like a season of mid-table mediocrity for the Nottinghamshire outfit.
United sit proudly at the top of the League Two table, with their 42 games giving them a return of 81 points. The Blues needing just two points to be assured of automatic promotion and only five to win the title. If Grimbsy don't beat Cheltenham on Friday night though Carlisle will be promoted without kicking a ball.
For a detailed analysis of team form guides throughout the leagues, click here
| Current league form guides: | P | W | D | L | F | A | P |
| Mansfield | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 7 |
| Carlisle | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 4 | 16 |
FootyMad's prediction ...
The Cumbrians decent recent efforts out on the road should see them narrowly take the spoils from the match with Mansfield Town, believes the FootyMad team. Away win
| Sequence statistics: | |
| Mansfield | Not won in the three most recent matches. Three wins from last four league home games. Only scored three goals in their last six outings. |
| Carlisle | Three wins from last four league away games. Undefeated since the end of January in the league. |