Blackburn Rovers' playoff hopes have been left in tatters by their form over the last few weeks, and victory over Huddersfield Town on Saturday is a must if they want to resurrect their slim chance of a top-six finish.
Rovers saw a five-match unbeaten streak come to a shuddering halt in the form of a 4-0 loss to Bolton Wanderers at the start of the month, while subsequent defeats to Burnley and Bournemouth have further dented their playoff ambitions.
They now sit nine points behind sixth-placed Reading, while their game in hand over the Royals will not provide much of an advantage considering that Wigan Athletic and Brighton & Hove Albion have also played fewer games than Nigel Adkins's side.
In addition to their points deficit, Blackburn are also the only team in the top 11 to have a minus goal difference, leaving them at even more of a disadvantage against the sides above them.
However, with 36 points still up for grabs, Gary Bowyer will be telling his side that they still stand a chance if they can end their poor form this weekend.
They have, however, only managed one win in their last six outings on their travels and will need to bounce back from the heavy defeat to Bolton in their most recent away game.
Bowyer is likely to be without Scott Dann, Ben Marshall and Tom Cairney for the match, but he could welcome back experienced midfielder David Dunn.
Striker Jordan Rhodes is also likely to continue up front for the visitors despite only having scored once in 2014 so far.
For Huddersfield, the building towards next season has already begun as they are safe in midtable and unlikely to be dragged into a relegation battle or playoff challenge.
Mark Robins's side have been dogged by inconsistency all season, and that has not changed in recent weeks - as demonstrated by a 5-0 win over Barnsley being followed up with a 2-0 defeat to Doncaster.
A win would lift them above Blackburn in the table and could leave them as high as 10th, with a top-half finish being Town's only real target left.
Robins could opt to name an unchanged side to the one that played out a goalless draw with Charlton Athletic in midweek, with top scorer James Vaughan still out through injury.
Recent form
Huddersfield: LWLWLD
Blackburn: WDWLLL
Possible starting lineups
Huddersfield: Smithies; Dixon, Wallace, Gerrard, Woods; Hammill, Clayton, Southern, Norwood; Ward; Wells
Blackburn: Robinson; Kane, Hanley, Keane, Spurr; Dunn, Lowe, Evans, Conway; Gestede; Rhodes
Sports Mole says: 1-1
No Data Analysis info
