Mansfield Town have wasted no time at all in moving to replace Steve Evans, who resigned this week to join Peterborough United.

Evans handed in his resignation with Mansfield fifth in the league and having just come out of the transfer window in order to 'pursue an opportunity abroad', according to Peterborough Today. There's nothing to say the story, whilst fanciful, isn't true but it certainly stretches the definition of coincidence to it's very limits.

However, rather than wallowing in self pity or nasty recriminations, Mansfield have immediately moved to replace the brash Scot, with reports from the BBC suggesting Swindon Town boss David Flitcroft is due to be announced at some point today.

Swindon are one of Mansfield's play-off rivals and Flitcroft had been at the heart of their revival. The Stags are said to have approached Swindon in the correct manner and their official website states an announcement is due imminently.

It is a rather unusual turn of events, Steve Evans almost left Field Mill for the County Ground at the beginning of the season to team up with chairman Lee Power, a former player he managed at Boston United. Now the boot is on the other foot, with ambitious chairman John Radford tempting Flitcroft up north to Mansfield for the promotion run-in.

Flitcroft knows how to get promoted from League Two, having done it once with Bury already. His Swindon side look on course to finish in the top seven this season and he's also managed Barnsley in the Championship. He's likely to bring his trusted assistant Ben Futcher with him, a former Bury player who followed him to Swindon in the summer.

The Verdict

Mansfield fans can be very pleased with the last 48 hours, although they might not realise it just yet.

Flitcroft is a calm and assured man, someone who understands his players and gets success the right way.

They've got a great collection of footballers at Field Mill and now I feel they've also got a manager to get the best out of them. Swindon on the other hand will be reeling, losing your manager two months before the end of the season is always going to be a huge blow and unless they also act quickly, it could damage their promotion hopes severely.