Few changes as Mansfield Town aim to see off Championship side Preston North End in Carabao Cup
Stags saw off Bristol Rovers 2-1 with a last gasp winner on Saturday while Preston crashed 4-1 at home to Hull City.
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Hide Ad“We will make a few changes but we will approach it the same as Saturday and try to win it,” said manager Clough.
“We won't make too many changes – they will be based on knocks and things.
“We have a couple of lads absolutely champing at the bit to get a game, George Lapslie being one of them. He is definitely starting.”
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Hide AdClough has no idea how strong a side the visitors will turn out.
“It'd difficult to tell after Saturday. It was a very surprising result, losing at home to Hull,” he said.
“But we do expect a reaction from them. They will want to win a game and get that out of their system from Saturday.
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Hide Ad“I hope we have an even share of the ball. That's one of our strengths – our ability on the ball.
“We saw from the Championship clubs we played pre-season that when we've got it we can cause problems.”
On the competition, he added: “I love cup competitions – especially those that finish at Wembley and you have the chance of making a few quid by drawing a big team, but you have to get through these early rounds.
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Hide Ad“We were brought up with the philosophy that the League Cup wasn't more important than the FA Cup. It's another cup competition you try to win.”
He added: “I think we can play better than Saturday but I think we were a bit nervous.
“First day nerves can take your breath away and you're gasping for oxygen at times.
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Hide Ad“But we found a way to win and restricted a very good team to few opportunities.”
Elliott Hewitt and Harry Charsley are both unlikely to be fit enough to figure tonight.
“They are getting there – maybe another week, but we don't want to risk them with the niggling injuries they have,” said the manager.
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Hide AdOn adding a defender as a last summer signing, Clough said: “It's not quite straightforward.
“But we are making progress. We have three weeks before the window shuts and are looking to get it tie it up as quickly as we can.”