Gateshead play host to Eastleigh on Tuesday evening looking for the win that could move them into the top five of the National League standings.
At a time when the home side occupy seventh position in the table, Eastleigh are down in 14th spot after putting together their worst run of form this season.
Match preview
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With Gateshead starting the year with three successive defeats without scoring a goal, Rob Elliot may have feared for his position in the dugout.
Instead, the North East outfit have responded with two excellent victories over Barnet and Southend United, with the 1-0 win over the latter ending a run of nine games without a clean sheet.
With Gateshead having also come from behind to prevail in the preceding encounter, confidence is building again among a squad that had previously won just one of their previous seven contests.
As a result, Gateshead are now within three points of fourth position with matches in hand on some of the teams above them, providing them with an opportunity to cement a spot in the playoffs.
On the flip side, defeat on Tuesday would see them drop to within five points of their 14th-placed opponents, highlighting the fine lines that are still active in this season's National League.
From Eastleigh's perspective, they make the long trip North having failed to win a single game in any competition since December 23, a run spanning eight matches.
When they earned a dramatic 4-4 at Boreham Wood, it appeared that things may be heading in the right direction having been eliminated from the FA Cup, missing out on a fourth-round tie with Manchester United.
However, a 4-0 defeat at Altrincham was followed by a 3-1 reverse at home to leaders Chesterfield, with their cause in the latter not helped by a first-half red card.
Sitting six points clear of the bottom four, Eastleigh are well set to avoid becoming embroiled in a relegation scrap, but Richard Hill knows that they can ill-afford to extend their winless streak into double figures.
Team News
Gateshead boss Elliot is likely to keep the same side that started against Southend should there be no fresh injury concerns.
Marcus Dinanga scored his 13th goal of the season in attack, while goalkeeper Eddie Beach kept his first shutout since making the loan switch from Chelsea.
Eastleigh will be forced into at least one alteration after Paul McCallum was sent off for two yellow cards against Chesterfield.
Ben Reeves or Malachi Dotse should come into the team in his place, while Oscar Rutherford is an option at right-back ahead of David Longe-King, who is more equipped to feature in the centre.
Gateshead possible starting lineup:
Beach; Richardson, Storey, Jobe; Worman, Grayson, Francis, Hannant; McBride, Whelan; Dinanga
Eastleigh possible starting lineup:
McDonnell; Rutherford, Martin, Langston, Greenwood; Maguire, Atangana, Taylor, Boldewijn; Reeves; Quigley
We say: Gateshead 2-1 Eastleigh
Having only recently dropped out of playoff contention, Eastleigh will feel that they are on a par, quality-wise, with their hosts. Nevertheless, Gateshead are back building a head of steam, leading us to predict a narrow success for the North-East outfit.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Darren Plant
