Jonson Clarke-Harris' second half penalty has snatched a point for Mark Robins' side after Jordan Willis' fourteenth minute red forced the Sky Blues to play the majority of the afternoon with ten men.
Willis was shown a straight red card for a last-man foul on Danny Rose, a foul which resulted in an Alex MacDonald free-kick giving Mansfield the lead after deflecting off Kane Hemmings.
Clarke-Harris' penalty, won by the former Rotherham man, with twenty minutes to go was enough to earn City a point.
The Sky Blues came close twice within the first two minutes at Field Mill, forcing three corners in the process. First Liam Kelly found Jonson Clarke-Harris at the near post but his effort was blocked well by a Mansfield defender.
Next it was Rod McDonald's turn, back in the side for Dom Hyam, rising highest at the far post to force a strong save from Conrad Logan in the Stags' net.
The game changed after fourteen minutes when Willis was shown a straight red card for a last-man foul on Danny Rose, giving the referee no option but to dismiss him.
Stags winger, Alex MacDonald scored the winning goal when the sides last met at the Ricoh Arena in November, and from the resulting free-kick was able to watch his free-kick hit teammate Kane Hemmings and roll agonsingly into the far corner. The home side were ahead.
A reshuffle at the back saw Dom Hyam introduced in place of Kelly, pushing Marc McNulty into the right side of midfield, as Mansfield came perilously close to making it two through Rhys Bennett, but the former Rochdale man headed over.
Logan was by far the busier of the two 'keepers however, as McNulty's audacious flick from a tight angle almost caught 31-year-old off guard, forcing him to acrobatically force it over the cross bar.
Steve Evans' side were making the extra man count as CJ Hamilton, Mansfield's star man all afternoon, continued to cause City problems, coming close twice to doubling his side's advantage just before the break.
The second half was short of chances from the get-go. Lee Burge, who despite the scoreline had very little to do, did well on the hour-mark to make a strong save from Hemmings' close-range effort, diving down to his right to parry it away.
Ryan Haynes has forced his way into the side in recent week and came close to drawing the Sky Blues level with twenty minutes to go, forcing a sensational save from Logan who forced it onto the post.
Moments later and City were level. Jonson-Clarke Harris was brought down in the area and picked himself up to fire home his first league goal for the Coventry infront of the 1,523 travelling Sky Blues fans. Ten-man City were back level.
Robins' side did have a chance late on to snatch a winner. Shipley's cross fell nicely for substitute Jorda Ponticelli but Krystian Pearce was able to hook the ball away before the teenager could blast it home.
Full Time: Mansfield Town 1-1 Coventry City.
Goals: Hemmings 14', Clarke-Harris 70'.
Yellows: Doyle 18', King 49', Shipely 83', Miller 86'
Reds: Willis 14'
Attendance: 6105 (1523 away)
Coventry XI: Burge (GK), Grimmer, Willis, McDonald, Haynes, Bayliss, Doyle ©, Kelly (Hyam 21'), Shipley , Clarke-Harris (Biamou 80'), McNulty (Ponticelli 67').
Subs: O’Brien (GK), Stokes, Vincenti, Reid, Biamou.
Mansfield XI: Logan (GK), Anderson, Bennett, Pearce (C), Benning, King (Mellis 79'), MacDonald, Potter, Hamilton, Rose, Hemmings (Miller 73').
Subs: Olejnik (GK), Diamond, Spencer, Penney,, Atkinson.