Mansfield Town have endured an incredibly tough start to the 2019/20 League Two campaign, with the pressure mounting on rookie manager John Dempster at the One Call Stadium.

The Stags narrowly missed out on promotion to League One last season, losing to Newport County in the League Two play-off semi-finals, and chose to go their seperate ways with manager David Flitcroft at the end of the campaign.

It was a decision that initially raised eyebrows, and it's a decision that has failed to pay off ever since.

Despite making a host of big-name signings in the summer - the likes of Andy Cook and Nicky Maynard adding even more firepower to an impressive attacking line - the Stags have struggled to get out of first gear this term.

Dempster's men have won just two of their first 11 games this season, winning just one game at the One Call Stadium.

They already sit eight points off the play-offs, and even though there is a large chunk of the season left to play, they look light-years away from forming a push for the top seven.

It's surprising to see Mansfield languish towards the bottom end of the League Two table, considering that they kept nearly all of the players that helped them reach the play-offs last term, barring Tyler Walker.

CJ Hamilton was undoubtedly one of the Stags' standout performers last season - the winger scored 14 goals in all competitions, and produced a large amount of assists along the way.

Naturally, his form didn't go unnoticed, with Preston North End, West Bromwich Albion and Aston Villa all being credited with an interest in the flying wide-man over the course of the season.

Mansfield and Hamilton snubbed interest from the high-profile clubs, but that's a decision that the 24-year-old will surely be regretting now.

Hamilton is yet to find the back of the net in a total of 13 appearances this season, and looks a shadow of the player he was last season under Flitcroft.

Now Villa are in the Premier League, and West Brom and Preston are both fighting for promotion in the Championship, it's incredibly unlikely that they will look to reignite interest in a bottom-half, under-performing League Two player.

He's out-of-contract at the end of the season, despite the Stags having an option to extend his deal at the One Call, but there's still every chance he could make a move in the summer.

But it was a massive opportunity to move to somewhere like Villa Park or The Hawthorns last season, and an opportunity that surely won't come around again.