It’s all heating up across the Football League. TIBS News provides a preview to this weekend’s Championship, League One and League Two action.
Championship
Top of the table Fulham visit relegation threatened Barnsley in a game that can make or break both teams’ seasons. Fulham are 14 points clear in first but will be aware that Bournemouth have two games in hand just behind them. Barnsley meanwhile will be hoping that they can cut the gap to safety to just two points.
Coventry welcome Sheffield United in a match-up that will help shape the play-off race. The visitors sit in fifth place, six points ahead of their 11th-placed opponents. Coventry won’t back down from the challenge though as they know that three points here could reignited their play-off challenge.
Luton are still in the middle of their fairytale attempt to rise to the Premier League after being in the National League as recently as 2014. The Hatters, who sit sixth, host seventh-placed QPR and both will be thinking they can take all three points in what will be a hotly-contested affair.
League One
Second-placed Wigan travel to third-placed MK Dons in this weekend’s biggest game in League One. Both the Latics and the Dons know a win could take them to one point off the top of the table. Wigan lost their EFL Trophy semi-final to Sutton in midweek and will look for a quick return to winning ways, whereas MK Dons are coming into the game on the back of a 3-1 win over Cheltenham.
Portsmouth will be attempting to continue their resurgence toward the play-off places with a win against playoff rivals Ipswich at Portman Road. The ninth-placed Tractor Boys are currently two points and one position ahead of Pompey but have also played two games more so a win would give them some much-needed breathing space. The team on the south coast will have to be clinical on Saturday as anything but a win could see the gap to sixth go to eight points.
A huge game at the other end of the table will see Gillingham take on Doncaster. Neither team can afford to drop any more points as they start to run out of games. Should they win and Wimbledon lose, Gillingham could go level on points with the teams in safety. Doncaster are just one point behind and will be putting everything on the line, as will the Gills, to ensure another season in League One.
League Two
League leaders Forest Green have struggled to find form and wins in recent times but the eco-friendly team are looking to compound Mark Hughes’ poor start to life at Bradford when they meet on Saturday. Forest Green haven’t won since February 9, with three draws and two losses to their name since. Bradford are in even worse form, losing their last five games, as Hughes’ ‘new manager bounce’ doesn’t seem to have turned his side around.
Swindon will attempt to climb back into the play-off places when they take on Oldham, who in turn are trying to climb out of the relegation zone. The Robins have put together a good run of form going into the fixture and lie just one point below seventh but the visitors will have the desperation of trying to survive another season motivating them.
Two teams also fighting relegation worries are Scunthorpe and Colchester. The two will meet at Glanford Park, with Scunthorpe in a much worse position than their adversaries. They are nine points from safety, have played at least once more than the teams around them and haven’t won a game of football in over a month. Colchester meanwhile know that they are in control of their own destiny and a win here will put them in a stronger position of safety heading into the run-in.
By Joshua Stewart
