'The players know what is at stake' - McLaughlin

Stephen McLaughlin has been with Mansfield since 2020

Mansfield Town left-back Stephen McLaughlin has said the squad "know what is at stake" ahead of their Carabao Cup tie at local rivals Chesterfield on Tuesday.

McLaughlin, 35, joined the club from Southend in September 2020 but is yet to experience the derby with Chesterfield, who were once voted by fans as Mansfield's biggest rivals.

After returning to the English Football League last season, the Spireites will be looking to get long-awaited revenge on Nigel Clough's side after a 1-0 defeat in April 2018 helped confine them to relegation to the National League that year.

"We knew from when the fixture was released, it's been talked about and the players know what is at stake for the fans," McLaughlin, whose long-range strike opened the scoring in the Stags' eventual 2-1 defeat in League One by newly-promoted Doncaster Rovers on Saturday, told BBC Radio Nottingham.

"It's a really important game – I know our end is sold out, so, I'm really looking forward to it.

'The further you go, the more special they become'

Almost 10 years ago, McLaughlin was preparing to take on Tottenham Hotspur as a Nottingham Forest player in the third-round of the competition.

Now he hopes a cup result can kick-start his side's campaign after they succumbed to back-to-back defeats in their opening two league fixtures.

"Cup games are different, I don't know what's about it, the further you go, the more special they become," he added.

"Within a couple of games, you could be playing at [Manchester] United.

"I know a lot of people [would say] you'd rather be out of it because they've got their eyes on other things.

"But I think a cup run is always good because then you get to use the full squad as well - it's always a good competition if you can go far in it."