Mansfield Town vs Accrington Stanley - On-loan Howkins to miss Accrington clash

Posted Tuesday, February 14, 2017 by PA

On-loan defender Kyle Howkins remains unavailable for Mansfield as they prepare to host Accrington.

The centre-half is scheduled to play for parent club West Brom's under-23 team on Monday night and will not be rushed back into the Stags squad for their match against Stanley on Tuesday.

Despite Howkins' absence, Mansfield manager Steve Evans has plenty of options with 21 players still at his disposal.

Ashley Hemmings and Paddy Hoban were not involved at the weekend, but are in contention along with 20-year-old Lewis Collins, who has been training with the first team for the past couple of weeks.

Erico Sousa could make his Accrington debut after signing a deal with the club on Monday.

The 21-year-old Portuguese winger, released by Barnsley in 2014, had been training with Stanley and is now on a contract that runs to the end of the season.

He will go straight into the squad for Tuesday's game, subject to international clearance being received.

Matty Pearson and Scott Brown are back available having each completed suspensions, but Terry Gornell is set to remain sidelined by an ankle problem.