Both aiming to bounce back from defeats on Monday, Exeter City and Huddersfield Town will do battle at St James Park on Saturday.
With two games of the season remaining, the visitors sit ninth in the League One table following four consecutive defeats, while their hosts dropped to 16th spot over the Easter weekend.
Match preview
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Exeter City head into action at St James Park for the final time in the League One season on Saturday aiming to get back to winning ways on the back of a disappointing Easter weekend double-header.
In their third consecutive campaign in League One, the Grecians find themselves 16th after 44 games with 53 points on the board, eight fewer than they managed in the full 2024-25 term.
The most recent of their 14 wins so far this term came away at Bristol Rovers in mid-April, thanks to first-half goals from Caleb Watts and Reece Cole, but Gary Caldwell's side were only able to add one more point over the Easter weekend, courtesy of a goalless draw at home to 20th-placed Burton Albion last Friday.
A trip to 22nd-placed Crawley Town then followed on Monday, and the Grecians left empty-handed following a 3-1 defeat to the strugglers, having fallen 3-0 down inside 25 minutes and failed to come back into the game after Watts reduced the deficit to two before the half-hour mark.
Still only trailing 15th spot on goal difference and 14th and 13th places by just two points with two games remaining, Exeter City will aim to reverse their fortunes on Saturday and return to winning ways to rebuild confidence heading into the final day.
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Their visitors, meanwhile, also head into the weekend aiming to end what has been a disappointing season on a relative positive note.
Following their relegation last time around, Huddersfield Town found themselves in the battle for automatic promotion back to the Championship until mid-January, having earned 48 points from their first 25 outings, but they have since added just 16 more points to that tally in 19 further attempts.
The Terriers have won just five of those games, with the most recent coming at home to Mansfield Town in early April, their second three-point haul in the first four matches under the temporary stewardship of Jon Worthington, but the Yorkshire outfit have since fallen out of the playoff race following four straight defeats on the bounce.
They headed into the Easter weekend on the back of losses to Wycombe Wanderers and Burton Albion and were unable to arrest the latest slump, falling at home to 23rd-placed Cambridge United on Friday and suffering another 2-1 defeat away at Stockport County on Monday, despite leading through Josh Koroma until the final 15 minutes against the latter.
Now sitting ninth with the playoffs out of reach and just a point above 10th-placed Blackpool, Huddersfield Town will be desperate to put their disappointing slump in 2025 behind them and rebuild confidence ahead of another promotion bid next term with a pair of victories to end the campaign.
Team News
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Exeter City continue to deal with a long injury list, as Josh Magennis, Demetri Mitchell, Pierce Sweeney, Ryan Trevitt, Yanic Wildschut, Johnly Yfeko and Ben Purrington should all remain sidelined.
The Grecians are also without midfielder Ed Francis, who was sent off late in Monday's defeat to Crawley Town, meaning Ryan Woods should join Joel Colwill in the engine room from the outset.
In the absence of Magennis, who leads the current squad with 12 goals this term, Sonny Cox could again lead the line with support from Caleb Watts, who has scored two goals in his last three games.
Huddersfield Town are still badly hit by injuries too, with Radinio Balker, Mickel Miller, Ruben Roosken, Tom Lees, Nigel Lonwijk, Tom Iorpenda, Rhys Healey and Danny Ward all set to be sidelined.
Joint-top scorer Callum Marshall will also miss out through suspension, having been sent off in his substitute appearance last time out, but there is still competition for attacking spots with Joe Taylor and Tawanda Chirewa fighting to come in.
Taylor could displace Dion Charles, who is yet to score since his January arrival, and lead the line, with Josh Koroma offering further threat from the wing, while Antony Evans and Ben Wiles could again take up advanced roles ahead of David Kasumu and either Jonathan Hogg or Herbie Kane.
Exeter City possible starting lineup:
Whitworth; Turns, Fitzwater, Hartridge, McMillan; Woods, Colwill; Niskanen, Watts, Yogane; Cox
Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Nicholls; Sorensen, Pearson, Spencer, Ruffels; Kane, Kasumu; Wiles, Evans, Koroma; Taylor
We say: Exeter City 1-2 Huddersfield Town
With both sides seemingly limping towards the end of the 2024-25 season, we anticipate a close encounter on Saturday and give the visitors a slight edge thanks to their superior quality, despite their dismal run in recent months.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
