Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough has stoked the fire ahead of Tuesday’s Carabao Cup first-round meeting with Chesterfield, suggesting the Spireites have been “throwing money at it for a few years.”
The bitter rivals will meet for the first time since 2018 in a near sell-out at the SMH Group Stadium. The tie has been the talk of both fanbases since the draw, with the clash offering an early-season test of bragging rights as much as cup progression.
Clough questions Chesterfield’s budget
Clough, who guided Mansfield to League One promotion in 2024, claimed Chesterfield’s spending power has been significant for some time.
“They have brought in an awful lot of players… They have been throwing money at it for a few years now. I think they had a bigger budget when they were in the Conference than most League One sides. They lost nearly £70,000 a week to win the Conference so it shows what they are throwing at it.”
However, figures from last season show that seven other League Two clubs had bigger budgets than Chesterfield, and all of the sides in League One operated with higher financial resources.
Stags aiming for strong response
Mansfield have lost both of their opening fixtures this season, including a late defeat to Doncaster Rovers on Saturday, but Clough confirmed he will field a full-strength side for the derby. With injuries to contend with, he sees the occasion as more than a typical first-round tie.
“With the local rivalry at stake, without a doubt it means more. We will put the best team out to try to win the game. There won’t be any sort of resting people or anything like that.”
While he would have preferred the tie at Field Mill, Clough is expecting a hostile but electric atmosphere, with 1,000 travelling Mansfield fans occupying a section of the East Stand. He compared the fixture’s intensity to his experiences of the East Midlands derby between Derby County and Nottingham Forest.
Writer’s View
Clough’s comments may be part mind games, but they highlight the intrigue around a fixture that has been absent from the calendar for too long. Chesterfield, buoyed by last season’s near-miss in the League Two play-offs, will want to prove their credentials against higher-tier opposition, while Mansfield could use the derby to spark their campaign into life.
Whatever the outcome, the atmosphere promises to be fierce, and Clough’s remarks have only added more spice to an already heated contest.
