Mansfield Town forward Will Evans has accepted the team’s underdog status against Arsenal but wants his side to give everything during their FA Cup clash on Saturday.
Preparing to host the title-chasing Gunners, Evans admitted the reality of coming up against Mikel Arteta’s powerhouses still hasn’t really hit the Stags players.
“It’s not really sunk in. We watched them at the weekend and their so-called secondary team is probably still a top four or five team in the Premier League, so it just shows the strength they’ve got. But we’ve just got to enjoy the occasion. It will be great for Mansfield as a club, great for the town and it’s going to be great for us as players as well.”
Louis Reed of Mansfield Town celebrates scoring his team's second goal with Will Evans and teammates during the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round match between Burnley and Mansfield Town on February 14, 2026 in Burnley, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)placeholder image
Louis Reed of Mansfield Town celebrates scoring his team's second goal with Will Evans and teammates during the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round match between Burnley and Mansfield Town on February 14, 2026 in Burnley, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)
Arsenal scraped a 2-1 win over a ten-man Chelsea in the Premier League last Sunday, keeping them five points ahead of title rivals Manchester City. However, the Gunners have been left frustrated by certain results in recent weeks, including a 2-2 draw against Wolves, who are bottom of the table and 14 points adrift of safety from relegation.
The result proves Arteta’s side can be unravelled despite their well-stacked, multi-million pound squad, which is something Evans has stressed Stags keep in mind.
“With a team like Arsenal, you need to take any positive that you can. We are obviously massive underdogs but we’ve got to do our best to try and get a foothold in the game, get set-pieces and stay in the game for as long as possible.
"The last thing we want is to concede early goals and the tie to run away from us. But they’ve got a heavy schedule as well, they play midweek and then the following week in the Champions League, so there might be opportunities for changes and rotations in their squad. I’m pretty sure Arteta will make sure that they’re at it but for us, it’s probably a chance to play against some of the players who haven’t had as much playing time in the league.
“We’ve just got to hope that on the day that things go our way because we will all be up for it. We’ve got absolutely nothing to lose, it’s a bit of a no-brainer for us to go out there and express ourselves and just hope on the day that something falls our way.”
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