Nathaniel Mendez-Laing shares message with Derby County supporters following win over Mansfield | OneFootball

Nathaniel Mendez-Laing has taken to Instagram to share a message with Derby County’s supporters following his side’s League Cup clash with Mansfield Town.

The winger played a pivotal role in this particular fixture as the Rams secured a 2-1 victory at the One Call Stadium.

Introduced as a substitute in the second-half, Mendez-Laing provided a sumptuous cross for Tom Barkhuizen who headed an effort past goalkeeper Christy Pym.

This turned out to be the winning goal as Derby booked their place in the second round of the competition.

Before turning to Mendez-Laing for inspiration, the Rams opened the scoring in the first-half as Elliot Hewitt diverted Lewis Dobbin’s shot into his own goal.

Mansfield responded to this setback by levelling proceedings in the 56th minute as Oliver Hawkins netted his first goal of the season.

Despite being reduced to ten men following Barkhuizen’s header, the Stags went close to scoring an equaliser in the closing stages of the game as Eiran Cashin cleared Elliot Hewitt’s effort off the line.

Derby will discover who they are set to face in the next round this evening.

Following his side’s win over the Stags, Mendez-Laing opted to share a message with Derby’s supporters on Instagram.

🔗 Instagram

The Verdict

Derby will be hoping that this cameo performance by Mendez-Laing will provide the winger with some confidence heading into Saturday’s meeting with Barnsley.

The winger provided two key passes against the Stags as he recorded a respectable WhoScored match rating of 6.77 in this fixture.

Whereas Mendez-Laing was unable to score a goal or provide an assist in Derby’s recent clashes with Oxford United and Charlton Athletic, he does possess a good track-record when it comes to delivering the goods in League One.

Having been directly involved in 50 goals at this level during his career, it is surely only a matter of time before the 30-year-old makes a positive impact for the Rams who will be aiming to launch a push for promotion this season.

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