Crawley Town and Burton Albion square off on Saturday afternoon with both clubs knowing that they desperately need a win as they bid to remain in League One.
At a time when 21th-placed Crawley sit five points adrift of safety, the visitors are bottom of the table and 11 points away from getting out of trouble.
Match preview
© Imago
When Crawley posted back-to-back wins heading into December, there was hope that Rob Elliot was about to instigate a change in fortunes.
Instead, Crawley have since accumulated just one point from a possible 15, that being a 4-4 draw at Exeter City where they held a 4-1 advantage.
Just one league game has been played since then - a 3-0 reverse at Barnsley - and it has left Crawley at risk of being cut adrift in the bottom four.
As many as 15 goals have been conceded across their last five fixtures, even with a narrow 1-0 defeat at home to leaders Birmingham City coming during that period.
However, Crawley can take encouragement from still having 13 home matches on their schedule, and victory here would put a different complexion on things going forward.
© Imago
Meanwhile, the appointment of Gary Bowyer has failed to have the desired effect at Burton, who already seem destined for relegation to League Two.
Bowyer has recorded just two points from his opening five matches in charge, albeit those points coming through draws against Huddersfield Town and Peterborough United.
Positives can be taken from having conceded fewer than two goals in each of those five fixtures, yet the Brewers need to get back to winning ways as soon as possible rather than being interested in irrelevant improvements.
Despite just one away win being recorded in 11 league fixtures during 2024-25, five points have been accumulated from their last four such encounters.
Team News
© Imago
Crawley may hand a full debut to Ben Radcliffe with the defender having been signed from Derby County earlier in the transfer window.
Bradley Ibrahim is also an option to return in central-midfield, while the versatile Junior Quitirna could retain his place at right wing-back.
Billy Bodin and Mason Bennett are pushing for recalls to the Burton XI ahead of Charlie Webster and Danilo Orsi.
However, the Brewers only lost to an 86th-minute goal last time out, something which may discourage Bowyer from making many alterations.
Crawley Town possible starting lineup:
Wollacott; Mullarkey, Radcliffe, Barker; Quitirna, Ibrahim, Anderson, Kelly, Camara; Swan, Showunmi
Burton Albion possible starting lineup:
Crocombe; Godwin-Malife, Sweeney, Armer; Akoto, Chauke, Watt, Bodin, Williams; Bennett, Burrell
We say: Crawley Town 1-1 Burton Albion
While Burton are in a position where they should throw caution to the wind, there may be a few more nerves in the Crawley camp. With that in mind, we are backing a low-scoring draw that ultimately benefits neither team.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Darren Plant
