Cheltenham Town will be bidding to give their League One survival hopes a boost when they welcome already-relegated Carlisle United to Whaddon Road on Tuesday night.
Carlisle's relegation back to League Two was confirmed on Saturday, having lost 2-0 at Northampton Town, and Cheltenham are also facing demotion to the fourth tier, currently sitting 22nd in the table.
Match preview
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Cheltenham have not made a happy start to April, losing back-to-back games to Exeter City and Leyton Orient, which has left them in 22nd position in the table on 38 points.
The Robins boast a record of 10 wins, eight draws and 22 defeats from their 40 league matches this season, and it is not quite time to hit the panic button, as they are only two points behind 20th-placed Port Vale and have a game in hand over the team currently just outside the relegation zone.
Darrell Clarke's side now have back-to-back home matches against Carlisle and Bristol Rovers, and four of their final six league games of the season will be in front of their own supporters.
However, they have only managed to pick up 22 points from their 19 home League One fixtures during the 2023-24 campaign, suffering nine defeats in the process.
Cheltenham are unbeaten in their last five fixtures with Carlisle, and they will be looking to do a league double over their opponents on Tuesday, having run out 1-0 winners in the reverse match back in December.
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Carlisle secured promotion to League One through the 2022-23 League Two playoffs, but they have been unable to make it back-to-back campaigns in the third tier of English football.
A difficult campaign has seen the Cumbrians pick up only 27 points from their 42 matches, which has left them rock bottom of the table, and their relegation back to the fourth tier has now been confirmed.
It was always going to be a huge ask for Carlisle to move out of the bottom four at this stage of the season, and Saturday's 2-0 loss to Northampton confirmed their demotion; Paul Simpson's side have been in the relegation zone since October and have won just six of their 42 games.
Carlisle did manage to record a 3-1 victory away to Peterborough United at the end of March, but they have started April with successive losses to Lincoln City and Northampton.
The Cumbrians, who were last victorious over Cheltenham in January 2019, have the worst away record in League One this season, only picking up 12 points from their 21 matches on their travels.
Team News
Cheltenham head coach Clarke is expected to resist the temptation to shuffle his pack following the defeat at Leyton Orient on Saturday afternoon.
Aidan Keena has only managed one league goal this season, but the 24-year-old is again set to operate in the final third of the field, while George Lloyd is also set to retain his spot.
Joe Nuttall came off the bench to register against Leyton Orient, although it is likely that he will again be on the bench for the first whistle on Tuesday night.
As for Carlisle, Daniel Butterworth was forced off in the first half of the contest with Northampton due to a fitness problem, and he is expected to miss out against Cheltenham.
Sean Maguire is in line for a starting role in this match, while head coach Simpson could also introduce Jack Diamond into the first XI for the team's first game since their relegation was confirmed.
The club's attention will be switching to next season and those who are set to stay at the club, so there are likely to be changes in the XI over the next few matches.
Cheltenham Town possible starting lineup:
Southwood; Smith, Davies, Freestone; Long, Sercombe, Pett, Kinsella, Ferry; Lloyd, Keena
Carlisle United possible starting lineup:
Lewis; Ellis, Barclay, Lavelle, Mellish, Armer; Maguire, Neal, Robinson; Armstrong, Diamond
We say: Cheltenham Town 1-0 Carlisle United
There is simply no downplaying the importance of this match for Cheltenham, and anything less than a victory will go down as a hugely disappointing result. We are expecting a tight game on Tuesday but are backing Cheltenham to navigate their way to an important three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Matt Law
