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[lifestags]

I think the team will be:

Stech
Gordon Rawson Sweeney Benning
Charlsey Quinn Maris Lapslie Bowery
Reid

Cant see Clarke being involved if he is only training on Friday.

[Gazmoose82]

I think the team will be:

Stech
Gordon Rawson Sweeney Benning
Charlsey Quinn Maris Lapslie Bowery
Reid

Cant see Clarke being involved if he is only training on Friday.

Im going for 4-4-1-1
Stone
Gordon rawson sweeney benning
Charlsley quinn lapslie mclaughlin
Bowery
Reid
Clarke may sneak onto the bench

[Birminghamstag10]

I'm not confident. this is a side who can cause problems and are in a false position

Worries me they have a long throw, we didn't cope well with Cheltenham's in the cup so they will look to exploit that.

Hopefully we have learnt our lesson and can nick an ugly away win.

I thought we dealt with them alright in both games against Cheltenham.

Problem is, when you face 35 of them a game, you're bound to be troubled by a couple of them.

I too think that's a bit unfair on how we defended them in the 2 games so far. In the league game we managed it well so to keep them goal-less and in the cup, it took until extra time to finally pay off for them when tiredness will have crept in nd concentration levels momentarily dropped.

[chip63]

Stone, Quinn and cook to start in a 4-1-3-2.
We played better against Cheltenham when cook came on and think Southend might go for same tactics.
Don't know southends threat down the left so not sure about Gordon.
The game might be won or lost in the first 30 minutes.

[lifestags]

Actually, thinking back to the Southend Home game, if I remember rightly, Cook came on at half time and they couldn’t deal with him, so wouldn’t surprise me if he does start.

[bear 73]

Southend have won 4 out of their last 5 home games, and missed a lot of chances with the strong wind against them in the second half, and a lucky win taking Cambridge to the top of league 2. Southend at Roots Hall are becoming a tough nut to crack , and gone from meek n mild to aggressive and confrontational, Quinn if playing must be careful.
Will take a point all day long it keeps them 8 points below us

[Dan]

Might be important to win the toss then.

[geoffhill]

Quinn is very feisty and has picked 6 yellows so far this season.He will start on Saturday I feel sure.Expect Maris to start in place of Clarke as Clarke having a fitness test tomorrow so may be on the bench.Not sure who will start up front.I think it will be Bowery and Reid.Not my preference but we have good choices on the bench.

[MTFCMusings]

[Martin Shaw]

[Gazmoose82]

He should definitely start saturday... Nailed on to score against his old club

10/3 anytime goalscorer on b365

[Parkinsons Perm]

He should definitely start saturday... Nailed on to score against his old club

10/3 anytime goalscorer on b365

He should never start again, he's been downright awful

[gazza1988]

I can see Cook starting. They have a long throw. Bring Cook back each time they win one and its an extra player who can help deal with it.

Winners stay on. Keep the same side.

[MTFCMusings]

He should definitely start saturday... Nailed on to score against his old club

10/3 anytime goalscorer on b365

He should never start again, he's been downright awful

He was very good against Oldham.

[Parkinsons Perm]

He should definitely start saturday... Nailed on to score against his old club

10/3 anytime goalscorer on b365

He should never start again, he's been downright awful

He was very good against Oldham.

Your opinion not mine

[lifestags]

and Nigel Clough's who described him as having a ''fantastic game'' at left back.

[Spiritater]

Consistency is something McLaughlin lacks, one good game followed by two where you wouldn't know he was on the field. Needs to turn that last sentence round imo.

[BH_Stag]

He should definitely start saturday... Nailed on to score against his old club

10/3 anytime goalscorer on b365

He should never start again, he's been downright awful

He was very good against Oldham.

Your opinion not mine

Thought he was good at Oldham also. Clough made a point of saying after the game that McLaughlin was ‘absolutely magnificent, both defensively and attacking’. I’d be shocked if he didn’t start tomorrow after that but you never know as Meneyese was solid vs Cambridge and was dropped.

[Tippy Tappy Football]

Stephen McLaughlin's interview with the Southend Echo. He is still owed money by Southend. He's also another player getting his love for the game back under Nigel Clough.

"STEPHEN McLaughlin will be back at Southend United this weekend still feeling disappointed by how his own spell with the Shrimpers came to an end. The 30-year-old winger will be lining up for Mansfield Town in another crunch League Two clash at Roots Hall on Saturday. But McLaughlin, who made 185 appearances in a five year spell with Blues, teamed up with the Stags in the summer after never being offered another contract by Southend.

“I wasn’t happy the way it ended if I’m honest,” said McLaughlin. “I got a phone call from the chairman to tell me I was going to be offered a contract. I said great, send it over and we could take it from there. I then got an email to say I would get a phone call on the Monday to discuss it further but I never received that phone call. I text the chairman and I said I was disappointed never to receive an offer and he said he heard I agreed terms with Mansfield. At the time that wasn’t true, I still have a house in Southend, my missus loves it here and I did want to stay but that’s football. He still owes me money too but that’s neither here nor there. I’m at Mansfield now and I’m happy again.”

McLaughlin initially joined Blues on loan from Nottingham Forest towards the end of the 2014/15 season and lined up in the memorable play-off final victory against Wycombe Wanderers. The winger was also voted into the Echo’s team of the decade by the club’s fans and, despite some difficult times, McLaughlin relished the majority of his time at Roots Hall.

“On the whole I loved my time at Southend,” said McLaughlin.“I met some friends for life there and I loved it. The club looked after me when I was going through tough times and I won’t forget that. It’s a special place for me and the fans were great to me as well. We had promotion and some good times.”

But Blues started to struggle on and off the pitch in McLaughlin’s last two seasons at the club. And the Irishman found that tough to take.

“The last couple of years at Southend I fell out of love with football really because it was very, very difficult,” said McLaughlin. “I’m starting to get the love back for the game now though. I was very close to staying home in Ireland in the summer but I’m glad I made the decision to come back over to Mansfield. It’s been great lately and I was always looking forward to being at a stable club.”

The Stags are currently 14th in the standings but have recovered well from their own shaky start to the season which saw ex Southend coach Graham Coughlan dismissed as their manager. Under new boss Nigel Clough, Mansfield have won their last four games. But, as they bid to extend their unbeaten run, McLaughlin is bracing himself for an unusual afternoon.

“I spent a good number of years at Southend and coming back with another team will be weird,” said McLaughlin. “Playing against the likes of JD (Jason Demetriou) and Ox (Mark Oxley) will be weird because I’m still good mates with them and Brandon Goodship as well. It’s going be to weird but I’m looking forward to it.”

The Shrimpers will be desperate for the points as they attempt to work their way off the foot of the table. And McLaughlin is bracing himself for a tough game. “On the pitch they’re going to be dogged and right at it,” said the Irishman. “That’s how they were when we played them at home. They’ve got an identity now, a way to win games and get points. They’re not the nicest to play against but we’re more than capable of matching them.”

[Cleveland_Stag]

I too think McLaughlin played very well against Oldham, moreover I think he’s been a solid utility player for us for the most part.

[MTFCMusings]

There’s been a couple of very bad ones, but his set pieces are usually very dangerous.

[Sandy Pate Best Stag]

If it’s a straight choice between Macca and Sir Mal, I would take Sir Mal. However I do think Macca has put some good work in and a bit of competition for Sir Mal will probably gee him up a bit.

It’s all down to the game plan but I can see the two forming a solid partnership in a 4-4-2 if we went that way.

[Parkinsons Perm]

and Nigel Clough's who described him as having a ''fantastic game'' at left back.

He kept saying that about Reid even when he was dire??

[BH_Stag]

If it’s a straight choice between Macca and Sir Mal, I would take Sir Mal. However I do think Macca has put some good work in and a bit of competition for Sir Mal will probably gee him up a bit.

It’s all down to the game plan but I can see the two forming a solid partnership in a 4-4-2 if we went that way.

Don’t see us deviating from 433 too much moving forwards personally. I believe it was Cloughs preferred formation at Burton and didn’t take him long to introduce that here.

A lot of our good moments come from nicking the ball in good areas in midfield where we have great energy and you need 3 in the middle for that. We have great options in that area of the pitch so best to utilise that in my opinion. The opening stages at Oldham where we set up as 442 we never got going.

[bobbystagsfan]

and Nigel Clough's who described him as having a ''fantastic game'' at left back.

He kept saying that about Reid even when he was dire??

His opinion, not yours.