Both aiming to bounce back from weekend defeats in the fight at the top end of the League Two table, Crewe Alexandra and AFC Wimbledon will meet at Gresty Road on Saturday.
The hosts have fallen three points behind the automatic promotion spots due to a dip in their form, while the visitors currently occupy the final playoff place but only lead eighth-placed Walsall by a single point.
Match preview
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Crewe Alexandra return to Gresty Road on Saturday with the aim of returning to form and keeping their League Two automatic promotion hopes alive this season, having lost ground in the midst of a slight slump in recent weeks.
A strong run across January and February, in which they picked up seven wins and two draws from a 10-match span, left the Railwaymen as frontrunners in the race for a top-three finish with 61 points on the board from 34 outings, but they have failed to extend that hot streak since the beginning of March.
Indeed, Lee Bell's side now head into the weekend in fifth place having only managed three points from the four attempts since, firstly losing 3-2 at home to Morecambe before leaving empty-handed from a trip to Doncaster Rovers as goals from Hakeeb Adelakun and Tommy Rowe condemned them to a 2-0 defeat.
They were able to return to winning ways at home to relegation-threatened Sutton United last Tuesday, with Elliott Nevitt netting the only goal of the game, only to meet Milton Keynes Dons in a six-pointer at the weekend and fall short in an eventual 3-1 loss, having drawn level early through Nevitt, only for Matthew Dennis to quickly restore the hosts' lead with his second of the game before Stephen Wearne added a third.
Having fallen three points behind fourth-placed MK Dons and the top three as a result of that defeat and their recent dip in form, Crewe Alexandra will be desperate to bounce back on home turf at the weekend in a bid to regain ground in their pursuit of automatic promotion.
In their way stand a visiting side who find themselves seven points and two places worse off in the top seven, with the aim of strengthening their standing in the playoff spots.
In their bid to win promotion back to League One at the second time of asking this term, AFC Wimbledon have staged an impressive climb into the top seven this month, after a four-match winless run in February left them on 47 points from 34 games.
Johnnie Jackson's side bounced back in style from that slump, firstly beating rivals MK Dons 1-0 thanks to Ronan Curtis's injury-time winner, before taking a point from a goalless stalemate away at Grimsby Town.
Back-to-back 2-0 wins over Notts County and Gillingham followed, triggering a climb into the playoff spots, but the Dons were unable to extend their hot streak any further at the weekend, hosting Newport County in a six-pointer and falling to a 2-0 defeat with Bryn Morris and Kyle Jameson netting goals either side of the interval for the visitors.
With their lead over eighth-placed Walsall and ninth-placed Crawley Town now cut back to a single point, having played more games than both sides in pursuit, AFC Wimbledon find their playoff place in jeopardy and will be keen to strengthen their standing in the top seven with a crucial return to winning ways at Gresty Road.
Team News
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Crewe Alexandra will likely remain without forward Courtney Baker-Richardson on Saturday, as he missed their defeat to MK Dons after being forced off early on in their meeting with Sutton United.
Charlie Kirk could be called back into the attack from the outset after being reduced to a substitute appearance last weekend, while Elliott Nevitt is bound to lead the line having taken his tally to 14 League One goals for the season in that game.
Huddersfield Town loanee Josh Austerfield will again join Conor Thomas in the engine room, while 34-year-old Mickey Demetriou will continue to play a key role at the heart of the defence.
Despite their 2-0 defeat last time out, Johnnie Jackson is unlikely to make many changes to his AFC Wimbledon starting XI on Saturday in their 3-4-3 shape, with Kofi Balmer, John-Joe O'Toole and Lee Brown having impressed in a back three in recent weeks.
He is forced into a change up top, though, with forward Omar Bugiel away on international duty with Lebanon, while James Tilley is unlikely to return from an injury setback in time to feature from the start, meaning the Dons' three top scorers this term will all not feature, with Ali Al-Hamadi having also departed for Ipswich Town in January.
Given those absences, Josh Davison should come in to lead the line, while Ronan Curtis will continue to play a key role in the front line having impressed since his January arrival, contributing three goals and two assists in 12 league appearances.
Crewe Alexandra possible starting lineup:
Booth; Turns, Demetriou, Williams; Cooney, Austerfield, Thomas, Adebisi; Kirk, Nevitt, Rowe
AFC Wimbledon possible starting lineup:
Bass; Balmer, O'Toole, Brown; Neufville, Reeves, Little, Currie; Curtis, Davison, Gordon
We say: Crewe Alexandra 2-1 AFC Wimbledon
In a pivotal contest in the playoff race, Crewe Alexandra will likely fancy themselves to bounce back to winning ways with home advantage against an AFC Wimbledon side missing several key players.
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Sam Varley
