With five crucial points separating them in the bottom half of the League One table, Exeter City and Burton Albion will square off at St James Park on Saturday.
In the midst of a tough run of form, the visitors sit 19th with a five-point lead over the relegation zone, while their hosts all but confirmed their safety with a midweek away win.
Match preview
© Reuters
Exeter City head into the weekend aiming to continue a climb up the League One table and away from the bottom four, having built up an important cushion in the last week after a tough spell.
After dropping into the fight at the bottom end of the division late last year, Gary Caldwell's side were able to give their survival hopes a huge boost by collecting 20 points from an 11-match span between Boxing Day and mid-February, but another tough run followed and left them six points above the drop again.
In the following four games, the Grecians suffered defeats to Derby County, Lincoln City and Peterborough United alongside a draw with strugglers Fleetwood Town, and while they were unable to return to winning ways at home to third-placed Bolton Wanderers at the weekend, Caldwell's men did come away with a creditable point from a 2-2 draw thanks to Sonny Cox's second half brace.
Aiming to build on that more pleasing result and bunce back to winning ways, the Devon outfit most recently travelled to take on Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday, and they succeeded in style, picking up a 3-0 victory with Will Aimson, Luke Harris and Jack Aitchison all on the scoresheet in the first half after the hosts were reduced to 10 men in the sixth minute.
Having now extended their lead over the drop zone back to 10 points with eight games to go, Exeter City have all but maintained their third-tier status, barring any dramatic swing in the run-in, and they will now bid to climb further up towards the middle of the division and make it three games unbeaten on Saturday.
Their visitors, meanwhile, travel with less of a cushion in the fight for survival, albeit still with a relatively healthy lead to defend ahead of the run-in.
From their opening 37 matches, Burton Albion have amassed 39 points and currently occupy 19th spot as a result, five points clear of the bottom four in their bid to maintain their third-tier standing this season.
Martin Paterson arrived to lead the Brewers' survival bid in mid-January, and while he was able to inspire an initial upturn in form, overseeing three victories in his first six games in charge, the Midlands outfit have since hit another rut, adding just one more point to their tally in the last five attempts.
That solitary point came from a goalless draw with 21st-placed Cheltenham Town at the beginning of March, and Paterson's men have fallen short in two tough tests since, firstly losing 3-1 at home to Peterborough United last weekend before travelling to league leaders Portsmouth on Tuesday and suffering a narrow 2-1 defeat having pulled a goal back through John Brayford 10 minutes from time.
While they cannot be too disheartened by those defeats given the tough opposition, Burton Albion do certainly remain in the mix at the bottom end of the division as a result of their poor run of results, and they will be desperate to build on their five-point lead over the drop zone with a return to winning ways on their travels on Saturday.
Team News
© Reuters
Exeter City will remain without Demetri Mitchell and Admiral Muskwe on Saturday due to injury issues, and Gary Caldwell should deploy an unchanged starting XI from their 3-0 win over Shrewsbury on Tuesday.
After both getting on the scoresheet in that match, Jack Aitchison and Luke Harris will continue to operate in a front three either side of Sonny Cox, who took his tally to five league goals for the season with both goals in their recent 2-2 draw with Bolton Wanderers.
Despite competition from Tom Carroll, Reece Cole should again get the nod to join Ryan Woods in the engine room, while Zak Jules, Pierce Sweeney and Will Aimson are all mainstays in defence and will continue in a back three.
Martin Paterson is unlikely to make many changes to his Burton Albion team after their narrow defeat away at league leaders Portsmouth last time out, with Tom Hamer, John Brayford and Ryan Sweeney bound to continue at the heart of the defence.
Ahead of them, Rekeem Harper, Adedeji Oshilaja, Joe Powell and Mark Helm should again line up in a tight midfield unit, while Joe Hugill will hope to again lead the line despite facing competition from fellow loanees Antwoine Hackford and Ademola Ola-Adebomi.
Exeter City possible starting lineup:
Sinisalo; Sweeney, Aimson, Jules; Niskanen, Woods, Cole, Harper; Aitchison, Cox, Harris
Burton Albion possible starting lineup:
Crocombe; Caprice, Hamer, Brayford, Sweeney, Seddon; Oshilaja, Powell, Harper, Helm; Hugill
We say: Exeter City 2-1 Burton Albion
Boosted by their midweek win and meeting a Brewers side who are lacking any momentum, we back Exeter City to triumph on home turf on Saturday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
