Carlisle United will be desperate to end a winless streak of six league games when they host Cheltenham Town on Saturday.
The visitors, meanwhile, will make the long trip to Cumbria knowing that they sit bottom of the League One table.
Match preview
© Reuters
Claiming only two wins from their last 15 league games has seen Carlisle drop into the relegation zone themselves. Paul Simpson's side appeared to be ending their recent run without a victory, but Northampton Town's Kieron Bowie snatched a point at Brunton Park last weekend.
After trailing at half time, the Cumbrians had turned the match on its head through goals from Jack Armer and Ryan Edmondson in the second half. Although a win would still not have been enough to move out of the bottom three, Bowie's equaliser came as a bitter blow given that Exeter City remained three points ahead of them above the dreaded dotted lines in the table.
This season was always likely to be a struggle for Carlisle after their surprising promotion via the playoffs last time out. Scoring goals has clearly been their biggest problem since returning to the third tier, with only Exeter, Shrewsbury Town and their forthcoming opponents Cheltenham scoring fewer goals than them at this stage of the campaign.
However, 11 of their 16 points have been gained at Brunton Park, suggesting that they will have every confidence of dispatching Cheltenham on Saturday. It will certainly be a tough Christmas for Simpson and his players to enjoy should they pass up a golden opportunity against the division's bottom-ranked team.
© Reuters
However, Cheltenham remain marooned to the bottom of the table predominantly due to their disastrous form at the start of the season. The Robins gained just one point from their opening 11 matches, with Darrell Clarke slowly turning things around in Gloucestershire.
The former Port Vale boss replaced Wade Elliott in early October, and began in disappointing fashion when Cheltenham fell to their seventh successive league defeat at home to fellow strugglers Fleetwood Town. But taking 12 points from their ensuing eight fixtures has given them a fighting chance of remaining in the division.
Clarke has a major job on his hands to pick spirits back up after his players succumbed to a bitterly disappointing 2-1 defeat at home to Leyton Orient last weekend. Despite losing Ben Williams to an 18th-minute dismissal, Will Goodwin's dispatched penalty gave Cheltenham a lead to hold onto heading into the final quarter of the match.
Eventually, their numerical disadvantage told, with Shaq Forde and Ethan Galbraith both scoring late to snatch all three points for the visitors.
Their forthcoming meeting against Carlisle could scarcely be more of a six-pointer, as they could move level on points with their opponents by beating them on Saturday. Having scored six goals across their last four away trips, there is every chance that they can do so.
Team News
© Reuters
Carlisle will remain without Callum Guy due to a serious knee injury. The midfielder is unlikely to feature again this season having sustained an ACL injury against Leyton Orient in the FA Cup last month. Fin Back, Paul Huntington and Taylor Charters are all doubts.
Simpson could be tempted to start Edmondson in attack after the 22-year-old scored against Northampton. Veteran forward Joe Garner could make way, with former Coventry City forward Sean Maguire also in contention for a start.
Cheltenham, meanwhile, will travel without Williams due to suspension after he was shown a red card for two bookable offences against Leyton Orient. Clarke will hope that Owen Bevan is fit to replace him in defence after the 20-year-old missed that match through injury.
Curtis Thompson will be in contention to come into the visitors' midfield area having returned to fitness in recent weeks, while Aidan Keena is also pushing for a start.
Carlisle United possible starting lineup:
Holy; Emmanuel, Lavelle, Mellish, Armer; McCalmont, McGeouch, Robinson; Plange, Edmondson, Gibson
Cheltenham Town possible starting lineup:
Southwood; Davies, Freestone, Bevan; Long, Sercombe, Bonds, Thompson, Ferry; Keena, Goodwin
We say: Carlisle United 1-1 Cheltenham Town
With both teams struggling to score goals and sitting within the relegation places, this could be a scrappy contest. A victory for either team would be a huge boost to their survival hopes.
However, we can envisage them having to share the spoils after a low-scoring draw. Both sides conceded injury-time goals to drop points last time out and may be content with avoiding defeat.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
