Preview: Forest Green Rovers vs. Exeter City - prediction, team news, lineups

Forest Green Rovers play host to Exeter City on Tuesday evening looking to extend their lead at the top of the League Two standings to 10 points.

While the home side seem to be well on their way to promotion, playoff hopefuls Exeter have failed to win any of their last five fixtures in the fourth tier.

Match preview

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Having astonishingly posted a 5-5 draw at bottom-of-the-table Oldham Athletic on December 11, Forest Green boss Rob Edwards would have wanted to get back to action as soon as possible.

However, coronavirus-related postponements forced the division pacesetters to endure a three-week break until New Year's Day, when they played host to struggling Stevenage.

In many ways, it was the ideal return fixture, and two second-half goals secured a comfortable win for Rovers, extending their unbeaten League Two record to 10 matches.

While Edwards would not have been overly satisfied with the performance itself, three points and a clean sheet represented the perfect afternoon ahead of another fixture at The New Lawn.

Jamille Matt has contributed six goals during his last four league appearances, taking his tally for the campaign to 14 strikes from 21 starts.

Opponents Exeter have spent much of the campaign competing for automatic promotion, a consequence of a three-month undefeated period which included 15 matches.

However, just one point has been collected from their last five outings, Matt Taylor's team now sitting two points adrift of the playoff spots.

After their own three-week break, Exeter ran third-placed Sutton United close at the weekend, falling to a 2-1 defeat courtesy of an 89th-minute winner.

Nevertheless, it should be noted that a meeting with Forest Green completes a set of four successive fixtures against the top four teams in the division, something which should put their recent plight into context.

Team News

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Barring any unforeseen selection issues, Edwards may be prepared to stick with the same Forest Green XI from the weekend.

As well as key players being rested during the closing stages, Forest had few issues with preserving their advantage, and the same crop of players should be fully recovered for Tuesday night.

Even in suffering defeat to Sutton, Taylor was full of praise for his Exeter side, which suggests that an unchanged starting lineup would not come as a surprise.

However, Taylor acknowledged that some of his players "were out on their feet" given their lack of preparation, and that could naturally lead to fresh legs being introduced.

Cheick Diabate will be assessed after suffering with cramp on his league debut, while top goalscorer Matt Jay is in contention for a recall.

Forest Green Rovers possible starting lineup:
McGee; Bernard, Moore-Taylor, Cargill; Wilson, Adams, Diallo, Cadden; Aitchison; March, Matt

Exeter City possible starting lineup:
Dawson; Key, Stubbs, Diabate, Caprice; Collins, Kite; Brown, Dieng, Edwards; Jay

We say: Forest Green Rovers 3-1 Exeter City

Regardless of their opponents, it is impossible to back against Forest Green right now, and we expect them to record a 15th league win of the season on Tuesday. Exeter may have their moments as they perform as underdogs, but being able to contain their hosts feels unlikely.

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