LEAGUE ONE AND TWO ROUND-UP: Sunderland suffer another coronavirus cancellation and it’s grim for Grimsby following Ian Holloway’s dramatic exit
- Sunderland suffer a fourth successive cancellation due to coronavirus outbreak
- Grimsby are in free fall after Ian Holloway leaves and their takeover is rejected
- Sportsmail gives the lowdown on the action from League One and League Two
Sportsmail’s Tom Farmery gives the lowdown on all the action from League One and League Two as Sunderland suffer another cancellation and Grimsby are in free fall.
Sunderland’s trip to Accrington Stanley has become the club’s fourth successive fixture to be postponed because of Covid.
Five positive tests have already seen games against Shrewsbury, Blackpool and Hull cancelled.
Sunderland have not played since December 15 when they took on AFC Wimbledon
A year ago, Lincoln fans were worried after a difficult start to Michael Appleton’s reign, following their incredible rise under the Cowley brothers.
On Boxing Day, after an emphatic 5-1 win over Burton, the Imps went three points clear at the top of League One.
Appleton does not want his players to look at where they were 12 months ago, but instead focus on promotion.
After 5-1 win over Burton, Lincoln went three points clear at the top of League One
He said: ‘Because we are top, the expectations will rise. We need to meet expectations head-on and keep improving. The only way we will do that is by working our socks off and trying to bring in a bit of extra quality.’
Charlton missed a chance to climb the table after drawing 2-2 against Plymouth, which Lee Bowyer blamed on ‘giving away soft goals’.
Oxford goalkeeper Jack Stevens produced a masterclass as Karl Robinson’s side beat struggling AFC Wimbledon 2-0.
Jordan Obita and Matt Taylor put Oxford ahead in the first half before Stevens pulled off several excellent saves. Robinson said: ‘I think Jack was everybody’s man of the match.’
League Two
No manager, a majority shareholder who is clinging on and a cobbled-together team of inexperienced youngsters and non-League no-hopers, Grimsby are in a perilous position.
In a week which saw manager Ian Holloway leave and John Fenty reject a takeover offer from a London consortium, the Mariners lost 3-1 at Morecambe to leave them three points above the drop zone.
With fans planning a protest against the current ownership at the home game against Oldham tomorrow, caretaker boss Ben Davies said: ‘It’s not been an easy week. You try to cut out the outside noise. This one’s done now, we’ll dissect it and concentrate on Tuesday.’
Grimsby are in a perilous position after manager Ian Holloway left the club this week
After a rocky start, Mansfield boss Nigel Clough is confident he is seeing positive signs from the side he took over last month.
A 3-2 victory over Scunthorpe was their first win since the start of the month and Clough said: ‘It felt like a big win. While we haven’t lost many games by more than one goal, we haven’t had enough wins, so that was the most important thing.’
Paul Mullin was 40-1 to finish as the division’s top scorer at the start of the season but after netting 17 goals, including the winner in Cambridge’s 2-1 victory over Leyton Orient to move four goals clear, his odds are 11-8. Boss Mark Bonner said: ‘He’s on an incredible run.’