Aiming to preserve any hopes of jumping out of the relegation zone at the bottom end of the League One table, Fleetwood Town will play host to Wigan Athletic on Saturday.
Charlie Adam's side sit 23rd with an eight-point gap to safety, while their visitors have climbed up to 13th spot thanks to an upturn in form in recent weeks.
Match preview
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Fleetwood Town return to Highbury on Saturday in an increasingly desperate position in their fight for League One survival this season, having fallen eight points adrift of safety with just 28 on the board from their 35 outings thus far.
Adam arrived to lead their bid to escape the bottom four around the turn of the year, and after seeing a winless run extended to 12 league games under his tutelage, he was able to inspire back-to-back wins over Port Vale and Bristol Rovers in early February, but the Cod Army have failed to build a sustained run on the back of those results.
In the five games since, the Lancashire outfit have earned just three more points, firstly suffering 2-1 defeats to Lincoln City and Barnsley either side of a 1-1 draw with Reading, before sharing the spoils in consecutive games heading into the weekend.
Adam's men travelled to take on Exeter City last weekend and played out a 1-1 draw thanks to Promise Omochere's 74th-minute leveller, before most recently visiting fellow strugglers Port Vale on Tuesday and coming from 2-0 down in the 88th minute to snatch a point through a Jayden Stockley brace.
While they have been able to come from behind to earn points in their last two outings, Fleetwood's situation means draws are not enough if they are to avoid the drop, and with just 11 games remaining to reduce the eight-point gap, they will be desperate to put a winning run together in the coming weeks, starting in Saturday's Lancashire Derby.
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In their way stand a Wigan Athletic side who travel to Highbury in high spirits, having moved clear of the fight at the bottom of the division in recent weeks.
Aiming to maintain their third-tier status in the midst of an eight-point deduction this term, Shaun Maloney's side have impressed and occupy 13th spot, despite sitting in a somewhat concerning position on 37 points from 32 outings on the back of consecutive defeats at the hands of Exeter City and Oxford United in mid-February.
The Latics have bounced back in impressive fashion since and climbed back away from the bottom-four fight, firstly returning to winning ways in a 1-0 triumph away at Shrewsbury Town thanks to Matthew Smith's goal around the hour mark, before taking a point from a 1-1 draw with a resurgent Cheltenham Town side last Friday.
A Lancashire Derby at home to promotion-chasing Bolton Wanderers followed most recently on Tuesday, and Maloney's men prevailed in another impressive 1-0 victory, with the game remaining goalless until Stephen Humphrys netted the decisive goal 21 minutes from time.
Now sitting 11 points clear of the bottom four and just two outside the top half, despite the deduction, thanks to their recent improvement, Wigan will now set out to make it four games unbeaten and consecutive wins against Lancashire opposition to stand a chance of moving 12th on Saturday.
Team News
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Charlie Adam is unlikely to make many changes to his Fleetwood Town side from their midweek draw away at Port Vale, although Jayden Stockley should come in and lead the line from the start having scored both of their goals to level that game off the bench to take his tally to eight for the season in League One.
That could see Promise Omochere shift out to the right wing with Ronan Coughlan continuing on the other flank, while Bosun Yawal and Danny Mayor bound to continue in midfield while Brendan Sarpong-Wiredu, Ben Heneghan and Elijah Campbell should line up in an unaltered back three.
A change could also be afoot in the Wigan Athletic front line on Saturday, with Stephen Humphrys likely to come in from the start and lead the line in place of Josh Magennis after scoring the decisive goal in their midweek win over Bolton Wanderers off the bench.
In a 3-4-3 shape, he will likely have support from Callum McManaman and Thelo Aasgaard, who has contributed seven goals and two assists in 24 league appearances this term, while Charlie Kelman is also fighting to feature in the front line.
Elsewhere, Matthew Smith and Baba Adeeko will continue their partnership in the engine room, while January arrival Charlie Goode should again play at the heart of a back three alongside Luke Chambers and Jason Kerr despite competition from Bayern Munich loanee Liam Morrison.
Fleetwood Town possible starting lineup:
Lynch; Sarpong-Wiredu, Heneghan, Campbell; Johnston, Lawal, Mayor, Patterson; Omochere, Stockley, Coughlan
Wigan Athletic possible starting lineup:
Tickle; Kerr, Goode, Chambers; S Smith, M Smith, Adeeko, J Smith; McManaman, Aasgaard; Humphrys
We say: Fleetwood Town 1-2 Wigan Athletic
Fleetwood Town need victories if they are to stand a chance of avoiding relegation this season, but the visitors boast more quality throughout their ranks, and we back Maloney's men to extend their pleasing run in pursuit of a top-half place.
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Sam Varley
