Aiming to keep any faint hopes of escaping the League One relegation zone alive, Fleetwood Town will travel to Brisbane Road to take on Leyton Orient on Saturday.
The visitors find themselves six points adrift of safety with just two games left to play, with any chances of survival out of their hands, while the hosts have the chance to cement a top-10 finish with a victory.
Match preview
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Leyton Orient return to Brisbane Road on Saturday with the aim of ending their League One campaign on a high in the final two games, having impressed on their return to England's third tier this term.
After only winning promotion from League Two last season, Richie Wellens's side have enjoyed a seamless transition, consistently maintaining a top-half place having amassed 62 points from their 44 matches thus far, winning 17 of those along the way.
Indeed, the O's remained in playoff contention until the beginning of March, as a six-match span which produced just one victory and one draw alongside four defeats saw them fall away from the top six, and following consecutive losses to Lincoln City and Peterborough United, they were able to make a return to winning ways early this month by beating Cheltenham Town 3-1.
They looked set to make it back-to-back three-point hauls at Brisbane Road in the following encounter, leading Exeter City 2-0 until the final five minutes through Oliver O'Neill and George Moncur, only to eventually be pegged back and held to a 2-2 draw, before most recently visiting second-placed Derby County last weekend and falling to a 3-0 defeat, as a Moncur own goal put the hosts ahead and Sonny Bradley added a brace at Pride Park.
With their lead over 11th-placed Northampton Town now reduced to three points and the advantage over 12th and 13th place cut down to four as a result of their dip in form, Leyton Orient will now bid to bounce back and end the campaign with a pair of positive results to secure an impressive top-10 finish in England's third tier.
They welcome a visiting side with much more riding on Saturday's meeting, albeit with the fight for survival firmly out of their hands with two games left to play.
In their bid to maintain their third-tier status, Fleetwood Town have had to endure a tough campaign this time around, picking up just 37 points from their 44 games thus far, with Charlie Adam having taken the reins at Highbury around the turn of the year when they sat on 18 points from 23 outings.
While the Cod Army have certainly shown encouraging signs under new management in 2024, they have failed to bridge the gap to safety thus far, having fallen further adrift with three straight defeats between late March and early April at the hands of Cheltenham Town, Oxford United and Blackpool, before making a crucial return to winning ways at home to Northampton Town last Saturday with Promise Omochere and Bosun Lawal firing them to a 2-0 home victory.
That left Adam's men six points adrift of safety with three matches to go ahead of a tough midweek trip to promotion-chasing Peterborough United, and after leading through Lawal and squandering two chances from the penalty spot, they sat level at a goal apiece heading into the final 10 minutes, only for Archie Collins to put the hosts ahead before Jonson Clarke-Harris put the game out of sight with an injury-time brace.
Now still facing a six-point deficit with just six left to fight for, knowing any further slips or a win for either Burton Albion or Cheltenham Town would seal their fate, Fleetwood Town travel to Brisbane Road aiming to complete a double over Leyton Orient and keep their survival hopes alive heading into the final round of games when they host Burton at Highbury.
Team News
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Leyton Orient continue to deal with several injury issues ahead of Saturday's game, as Dan Happe, Theo Archibald and Jordan Graham are all set to remain confined to the treatment room alongside key midfielder Idris El Mizouni.
In Happe's continued absence, Jack Simpson should again join mainstay Omar Beckles at the heart of a back four, despite their 3-0 defeat last time out, while veteran Darren Pratley will continue to deputise alongside Jordan Brown at the base of the midfield.
Ruel Sotiriou, who has notched up 11 League One goals this term, also missed their trip to Derby County, and if he is unable to make the weekend's game, Arsenal loanee Khayon Edwards will lead the line with support from the trio of Shaq Forde, George Moncur and Oliver O'Neill.
Fleetwood's 4-1 beating away at Peterborough United did not tell the whole story of the game, having been competitive throughout, and Charlie Adam is unlikely to make many alterations to his starting XI at the weekend as a result, with top scorer Jayden Stockley, who has been limited to cameos in recent weeks anyway, again set to miss out.
Instead, their attack will be spearheaded by Promise Omochere, who opened the scoring against the Posh with his sixth league goal of the season, while Tom Lonergan should again join him up top in their 3-5-2 shape.
Celtic loanee Bosun Lawal remains a key man in midfield alongside Danny Mayor, while Shaun Rooney, Ben Heneghan and Brendan Sarpong-Wiredu should line up in an unaltered back three.
Leyton Orient possible starting lineup:
Brynn; Galbraith, Beckles, Simpson, James; Brown, Pratley; Forde, Moncur, O'Neill; Edwards
Fleetwood Town possible starting lineup:
Lynch; Rooney, Heneghan, Sarpong-Wiredu; Johnston, Mayor, Lawal, Dolan, Broom; Omochere, Lonergan
We say: Leyton Orient 1-1 Fleetwood Town
Fleetwood Town will certainly fight hard to preserve any survival hopes heading into the final day of the League One season, and they do meet a Leyton Orient side hurt by injures, but Saturday still presents a tough trip against a side with superior quality, and we cannot envisage them leaving Brisbane Road with all three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
