Hartlepool United and Eastleigh square off on Saturday afternoon looking to move closer to the National League playoff places.
As it stands, the two sides sit in 16th and 11th position in the table respectively, albeit within a couple of wins of making an impact higher up the standings.
Match preview
When Lennie Lawrence became caretaker manager of Hartlepool on October 16, the expectation was that he would remain at the helm in the short term.
Instead, accumulating five points from his opening three matches in the dugout led to the Monkey Hangers hierarchy appointing the veteran on a permanent basis.
A 2-0 victory over Aldershot Town represented their first clean sheet in nine league games, although Hartlepool put in a contrasting defensive performance last time out.
Some context is required with the opponents being a York City side that have been relentless over recent games, yet Hartlepool ultimately went down by a 5-3 scoreline on their travels.
Although Lawrence's side sit just five points above the relegation zone, it will be closing down the seven-point deficit to seventh place that will be the priority.
Meanwhile, Eastleigh head into this contest having put together an eight-game winless streak in all competitions, albeit having only conceded more than twice in one of those fixtures.
While Kelvin Davis can be satisfied with elements of his team's defensive performances, Eastleigh are simply not doing enough to get over the line in order to maintain their previous promotion charge.
Nevertheless, despite the 2-1 reverse to Braintree Town last time out, the Spitfires are still within five points of the playoff spots.
Eastleigh have not registered an away win since August 24, a run lasting six matches.
Team News
Despite the defeat at the league leaders last time out, Lawrence may select a similar Hartlepool XI.
However, one change will be required with Emmanuel Dieseruvwe collecting his fifth yellow card versus York, Alfie Steel seemingly most likely to be named in attack as a straight replacement.
Greg Sloggett and Anthony Mancini are both options to return in central midfield.
Eastleigh will also be forced into two alterations due to suspension issues, Tyrese Shade and Angel Wariuh also picking up their fifth cautions in the last match.
Chris Maguire and Wes McDonald may be included on opposite flanks, depending on the formation that Davis deploys for this fixture.
Hartlepool United possible starting lineup:
Young; Dodds, Parkes, Sass-Davies, Ferguson; Charman, Sheron, Campbell, Featherstone, Grey; Steel
Eastleigh possible starting lineup:
McDonnell; Fernandez, Vokins, Francilette, Maher; Maguire, Taylor, Gape, Waruih; Maguire, McCallum
We say: Hartlepool United 2-1 Eastleigh
With both teams losing their most recent fixtures, this is an opportunity to bounce back. Eastleigh's extended winless streak suggests to us that Hartlepool are clear favourites to prevail here, something which we expect to materialise across the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Darren Plant
