Chesterfield and Doncaster Rovers will kick off the League Two weekend on Thursday, when they square off at the SMH Group Stadium.
The visitors have climbed to second spot in the league table with four consecutive victories, while their hosts have fallen further behind the playoff places in the midst of a tricky run of form.
Match preview
© Imago
Chesterfield return to League Two action on Thursday aiming to kickstart a turn in form and climb back towards the playoff places, having endured a slump since Christmas.
After winning National League promotion last time around, the Spireites enjoyed a strong first half to their first season back in England's fourth tier, earning 34 points from their first 21 outings, winning nine of those and only suffering five defeats.
They have since added just five more points and one more victory to those tallies in their last seven attempts, though, firstly going five games without a win between Boxing Day and late January.
Following three defeats and a pair of 1-1 draws, Paul Cook's men did return to winning ways by beating Bromley 3-0 thanks to goals from Armando Dobra, Ryan Colclough and Paddy Madden, but they were unable to build on that result at the weekend, visiting Cheltenham Town and falling to a 1-0 loss as Arkell Jude-Boyd snatched all three points in injury time.
Having now dropped to 10th spot in League Two as a result of their slump, only leading 12th-placed Cheltenham by one point and the bottom half by two, while trailing seventh-placed Bradford City by eight points, Chesterfield will aim to preserve any hopes of a playoff place and begin an improved run on Thursday.
© Imago
That will be no easy task, though, as the visitors make the short trip to Derbyshire in search of a fifth straight victory in their League Two promotion bid.
Aiming to make a return to England's third tier under the management of Grant McCann after last season's playoff defeat, Doncaster Rovers have moved into a strong position in recent weeks, now sitting second on 52 points from 29 outings.
That is in no small point down to a fine record away from home, with only Notts County and Port Vale topping their tally of 24 points on the road having both played more than the Rovers' 14 away matches, while they head into the weekend on the back of four straight victories since mid-January.
After seeing off Gillingham and Barrow away from home and Harrogate Town at the Eco-Power Stadium, McCann's side most recently hosted MK Dons on Saturday and took a 15th three-point haul of the campaign, having initially gone ahead through Joe Ironside and been pegged back before Rob Street netted a 73rd-minute winner.
Now sitting second in League Two, leading third-placed Notts County by two points and fourth-placed AFC Wimbledon by four, albeit having played the most games in the top four, Doncaster Rovers will go in search of a fifth straight win to strengthen their position in the automatic promotion spots before hosting Crystal Palace in the FA Cup fourth round on Monday.
Team News
© Imago
Paul Cook may opt to make several changes to his Chesterfield side after the weekend's defeat, although Kyle McFadzean, Chey Dunkley and Will Grigg should all remain sidelined by injuries.
In the absence of Grigg and following the January exits of James Berry and loanee Dilan Markanday, Paddy Madden will lead the line, while Armando Dobra will be heavily relied upon going forward having netted a team-high tally of 11 goals this season from a supporting trio.
Liam Mandeville and Ryan Colclough will hope to come in on the wings after Dylan Duffy and Michael Olakigbe got the nod against Cheltenham, while key men Darren Oldaker and Tom Naylor should continue in the engine room despite competition from Ollie Banks.
Doncaster Rovers, meanwhile, should again avoid making many changes to their starting XI in an effort to extend their winning run, although Grant McCann does have options to choose from in attack.
Joe Ironside will hope to continue as a lone striker, after netting their opening goal at the weekend, although Billy Sharp and Rob Street will both compete to start, with the latter having scored off the bench in that game and the former boasting seven league goals so far this term.
Whichever forward is preferred will likely have support from Luke Molyneux, Ethan Ennis and Harry Clifton, while Charlie Crew and Owen Bailey should continue in front of an unaltered back four of Jamie Sterry, Joseph Olowu, Jay McGrath and James Maxwell.
Chesterfield possible starting lineup:
Thompson; Sheckleford, Grimes, Williams, Sparkes; Oldaker, Naylor; Mandeville, Dobra, Colclough; Madden
Doncaster Rovers possible starting lineup:
Sharman-Lowe; Sterry, Olowu, McGrath, Maxwell; Crew, Bailey; Molyneux, Clifton, Ennis; Ironside
We say: Chesterfield 1-2 Doncaster Rovers
While both sides boast an abundance of quality throughout their squads, it is the visitors who head into Thursday's contest with all of the momentum in their promotion bid, and we back Doncaster Rovers to leave the SMH Group with all three points as a result.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
