Next Up: Mansfield Town vs Exeter City

City will look back at the season as another one of comparative over-achievement yet one which has divided the supporters. A mid-table finish often came at the expense of expansive play, with City’s goals in the scored and conceded column not quite in the Wigan category but certainly telling in terms of the fare that was often served. A win on Saturday could mean a top half finish, while Wednesday night’s results ensured that City can only drop one place on the final day. Gary Caldwell is likely to continue to either look ahead to next season or give departing players a final hurrah, with the likes of Tom Dean, Jake Richards and some of the loanees expected to feature. Andrew Oluwabori scored his first goal in City colours to clinch the three points against Huddersfield and may be in line to start.

It has been similarly a season of ups and downs for Mansfield in their first season in the third tier since a one-season say in 02/03. Having looked a good bet for a second successive promotion during the first half of the season, a dreadful run saw the Stags drop towards the other end of the table before a couple of wins in March gave a little breathing space as Bristol Rovers plunged towards the drop. Wednesday night’s win over Peterborough was the first in six and just the fourth in 2025 and Nigel Clough will be similarly looking to finish the campaign on a high. Christy Pym missed the reverse fixture and a chance to visit his first ground, and similarly he missed the midweek match so may not feature on Saturday, but Hiram Boateng has been a regular in the Mansfield squad so will hope to play some part.

The reverse fixture, postponed twice, took place in mid-March and saw City win 2-0 through Mitchell and Angus MacDonald. City’s last visit to Mansfield ended in 2-1 defeat, Rawson and Longstaff putting the hosts 2-0 up before Matt Jay pulled one back late on. City had the overall league head to head lead with 28 wins to Mansfield’s 23, 19 matches finishing level.

The match officials for this game will be:-

Referee: Abigail Byrne
Assistant Referees: Sam Wesson and Declan Ford
Fourth Official : Karl Buckley

This is Abigail’s first season at this level in the men’s game. She also regularly referees in the WSL and took charge of the Women’s FA Cup final. So far this season in the men’s game she has refereed 18 games, showing 82 yellow cards and sending off three players.

Kevin Nicholson ahead of the Mansfield game

Jake Richards