In their bid to climb into the top two of the League One table, Rotherham United will travel to take on Cheltenham Town on Saturday.
The Millers returned to winning ways against AFC Wimbledon on Tuesday, while their hosts have lost three consecutive games.
Match preview
© Reuters
Following their promotion from League Two last season, Cheltenham Town had a relatively commendable start to life in England's third tier, winning consecutive games to move onto 12 points from the first eight outings.
Michael Duff's men firstly picked up an impressive 2-1 away victory over Charlton Athletic, thanks to goals from Matty Blair and Taylor Perry, before Alfie May fired them to a 1-0 win at home to Oxford United.
The Robins have been unable to build an extended winning run though, as the back-to-back victories were followed by a 2-0 defeat to Wigan and a 5-0 thrashing last time out at the hands of Sunderland.
Duff's side faced a daunting task as they travelled north to the Stadium of Light, and the hosts went into the break with a 3-0 lead thanks to a Bailey Wright goal and a Ross Stewart brace, before Luke O'Nien and Leon Dajaku capped off a rampant performance with second-half efforts.
With those two results sending Cheltenham down to 16th spot, they will be keen to bounce back quickly, but the schedule does not get any easier as they welcome a Rotherham side who are desperate to earn an immediate promotion back to the Championship.
© Reuters
Paul Warne's men found themselves in a battle for survival for the majority of last season and were eventually condemned to relegation after a dramatic final day.
They came down with the task of quickly bouncing back up to the second tier, and have had a relatively impressive start, now sitting in fifth spot with 17 points from their first 10 outings.
Warne's side head into Saturday's game in a run of four League One games without a defeat, having beaten Bolton Wanderers and earned draws against Lincoln City and Crewe Alexandra before comfortably beating AFC Wimbledon on Tuesday.
The Millers welcomed Mark Robinson's side to South Yorkshire and led 2-0 at half time thanks to goals from Will Grigg and Michael Smith, before Smith capped off an impressive showing with an 89th-minute finish.
Having now climbed to fifth spot, they will look to establish themselves in a battle for the top two for the entirety of the season, and with the chance to move as high as second on Saturday, Warne will drill the importance of the trip to Cheltenham into his players.
- D
- D
- W
- W
- L
- L
- D
- W
- W
- L
- L
- L
- W
- L
- D
- W
- D
- W
- W
- L
- D
- W
- D
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Following the disappointing manner of their thrashing at Sunderland, Michael Duff is likely to change around his Cheltenham side on Saturday.
Exciting striker Alfie May will be vying to return to the starting XI and should join Kyle Joseph in the attacking line as they look to get on the front foot.
Liam Sercombe offers plenty of experience in the engine room and could feature alongside Ellis Chapman and Conor Thomas in the midfield battle.
Paul Warne has several impressive options to deploy in his front line, with Will Grigg, Freddie Ladapo and Michael Smith all battling for spots and boasting impressive goalscoring pedigree.
After his brace last time out, Smith is sure to be deployed from the start, while Grigg will likely keep his place having impressed since his loan arrival from Sunderland.
Despite losing forward Matt Crooks over the summer, the Millers have managed to keep the majority of their key players following the relegation, with centre-back Michael Ihiekwe and creative midfielders Daniel Barlaser and Chiedozie Ogbene forming an impressive spine with the forwards.
Cheltenham Town possible starting lineup:
Flinders; Long, Pollock, Freestone; Blair, Thomas, Sercombe, Chapman, Hussey; Joseph, May
Rotherham United possible starting lineup:
Johansson; Wood, Ihiekwe, Edmonds-Green; Lindsay, Rathbone, Barlaser, Ogbene, Ferguson; Grigg, Smith
We say: Cheltenham Town 0-2 Rotherham United
While Cheltenham will be desperate to arrest their slump, we do not quite see them having enough to avoid a defeat against the Millers.
Warne has a strong and well-rounded squad at his disposal, and they will look to ensure their promotion bid is not derailed when they travel to the newly-promoted side.
Top tip
Sam Varley
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Rotherham United win with a probability of 43.42%. A win for Cheltenham Town had a probability of 29.56% and a draw had a probability of 27%.
The most likely scoreline for a Rotherham United win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.86%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.73%) and 0-2 (8.11%). The likeliest Cheltenham Town win was 1-0 (9.36%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.78%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with an 8.1% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Rotherham United would win this match.
