Mansfield Town close to appointing new boss in time for Cobblers visit

The 45-year-old Irishman seems set to make a shock departure from Rovers after leading the club to fourth in Sky Bet League One and going 10 games unbeaten.

The Gas beat promotion rivals Ipswich Town 2-1 on Saturday but, just hours after the full-time whistle, it emerged that Coughlan was seriously considering his position as manager, around the same time Mansfield announced the sacking of John Dempster.

And it appears those two events are linked when news broke on Monday morning that Rovers have 'reluctantly' given Mansfield permission to speak to Coughlan.

A club statement read: "The club can confirm that it has reluctantly given permission for manager Graham Coughlan to speak to Mansfield Town about the vacant position at the One Call Stadium.

"Two approaches were made last week by the Sky Bet League Two side requesting permission to speak with Graham Coughlan about the manager's position, both were rejected by the club.

"However, it became apparent that the interest from Mansfield was significant and due to the fact that Graham had been working away from his family home in Sheffield for the last decade, it was evident that he would welcome the opportunity to work closer to his family and we therefore reluctantly granted permission to Mansfield to discuss terms.

"Joe Dunne led training this morning to prepare the squad for Tuesday's Emirates FA Cup replay at Home Park and he will continue to be assisted by Kevin Maher, Adrian Tucker and Lee Mansell."