Chesterfield hit with ‘bigger budget’ jibe as Nigel Clough stokes fire ahead of Mansfield Town cup tie

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For Chesterfield and Mansfield Town, games do not quite come as big as this, with the League Two and League One sides meeting in the first round of the Carabao Cup.

It’s been seven years since the two last met, but the Derbyshire-Nottinghamshire derby is finally back, as the Spireites welcome their bitter rivals to the SMH Group Stadium.

Paul Cook’s team have had the perfect start to the season in the fourth tier, winning both of their league games so far, while the Stags have two defeats from two to their name.

Nevertheless, form goes completely out of the window in games such as this one, and Nigel Clough has aimed a jibe at Chesterfield ahead of the contest on Tuesday evening.

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Nigel Clough makes Chesterfield financial claim ahead of Mansfield Town clash

Since the two last faced each other, the Spireites have spent a sustained period of time in the National League before winning promotion back to the EFL in 2024.

They were involved in the promotion battle between Wrexham and Notts County the season prior, with the Red Dragons going on to win three successive promotions, before Chesterfield dominated the division in their title-winning campaign.

Now, Clough has taken aim at his rivals ahead of Mansfield’s trip to Derbyshire. He said: “They have brought in an awful lot of players. They just missed out in the play-offs last year and they will be trying to get promoted this year. I think they are one of the favourites and probably rightly so.

“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 [National League] 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.”

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The head-to-head record is extremely close between the Spireites and Stags

The Derbyshire Times have explained that every League One club and seven League Two sides had a bigger budget than Chesterfield last season. Nevertheless, it’s just another dose of mind games ahead of the huge battle.

Mansfield will be hoping to continue their 12-year unbeaten run against the Spireites, as the Nottinghamshire outfit have not been beaten by their rivals since a 1-0 defeat in the EFL Trophy in October 2013.

However, historically, Chesterfield narrowly have the upper hand over their rivals, having won 30 of the 77 contests compared to the Stags’ 29 victories – with 18 draws between them.

Nevertheless, there will be plenty of eyes on the SMH Group Stadium as Cook looks for the upset over the League One side.