Stags have no way of making it to the next round but they are still up for the occasion as they prepare to welcome their bitter rivals to the One Call Stadium.

The Spireites will be banking on a win this evening to take them top of their group, meaning they will guarantee a home game in the next round.

Clough has stressed there is still plenty at stake, despite the match being a dead rubber for his side.

“If it was any other team in the country, it wouldn’t matter as much, but them being our local rivals, we’re going to try and win the game,” the manager said. “Even though it can’t win anything for us, there’s still local pride at stake.”

The last time the two sides faced each other in 2025, Mansfield Town knocked Chesterfield out of the Carabao Cup. Now, Spireites assistant manager Danny Webb is eager to turn the tables and wants his side to ‘get their own back’ on Stags.

Clough outlined the importance of giving everything in a game like tonight’s, regardless of the circumstances.

“Whenever you play your local rivals, it has to mean something. It doesn’t matter if it’s a pre-season friendly, the same sort of things are at stake.”

Stags will enter the clash with a seriously depleted squad, with as many as nine players potentially due to be missing.

Nathan Moriah-Welsh and Jordan Bowery are unavailable due to international duty, while injuries have torn through the first team.

Clough’s update on Monday morning revealed Louis Reed is an uncertainty for tonight, while David McGoldrick, Lucas Akins, Liam Thompson, George Abbott and Deji Oshilaja are all ‘in the treatment room’. Long-term absentee Baily Cargill also remains out of action.