Two teams fighting at opposite ends of the League One table will square off at Brunton Park on Saturday, as Carlisle United welcome Bolton Wanderers.
The hosts sit 10 points adrift of safety in 23rd spot, while their visitors will bid to climb back into the automatic promotion spots at the weekend.
Match preview
Since winning promotion through the League Two playoff last season, Carlisle United have endured a tough campaign back in England's third tier and find themselves 23rd after 28 games having only managed 20 points thus far.
Indeed, just one of their four victories have come in the last 13 attempts since late October, and John Simpson's side have only collected six points across those games, firstly enduring a nine-match winless run until the end of 2023.
The Cumbrians were finally able to return to winning ways on New Year's Day, coming from behind to beat Port Vale 2-1 at home as Jordan Gibson levelled the scores and Jon Mellish netted an injury-time winner, but they have been unable to build on that result since and head into the weekend on the back of three more consecutive defeats.
Simpson's men firstly travelled to Exeter City and failed to make it back-to-back three-point hauls, falling to a 2-1 defeat, before losing 3-1 at home to Oxford United and most recently falling just short away at promotion-chasing Barnsley last Tuesday, having gone ahead through Luke Armstrong only for Devante Cole and Herbie Kane to turn the game on its head late on at Oakwell.
As a result of their difficult spell and the postponement of their meeting with fellow strugglers Cheltenham Town at the weekend, Carlisle United now find themselves 10 points adrift of safety in League One with just 18 games left to play, and they will know that any chance of jumping out of the bottom four would require a dramatic upturn in form, starting with a victory on Saturday to complete a surprise double over Bolton after prevailing in a 3-1 win in Lancashire in early October.
That result in the reverse fixture was one of just six that Bolton Wanderers have suffered in the league so far this campaign, and they travel north on Saturday aiming to avenge the loss and reclaim a spot in the top two.
With their sights set on automatic promotion this term, Ian Evatt's side currently sit third having managed 54 points from their opening 26 outings, picking up 17 victories along the way.
After suffering disappointing consecutive losses in mid-December, five of those league triumphs have come in the last six attempts in a hot streak for the Trotters, as they firstly rounded off 2023 with three straight three-point hauls and kicked off the New Year with a fourth, beating Burton Albion 1-0 thanks to a Jasper Moon own goal.
A trip to Leyton Orient followed last weekend, and the Lancashire outfit saw their momentum halted in a 1-0 loss, but they were quickly able to bounce back on Tuesday in a rescheduled meeting with Cheltenham Town, after the original fixture was abandoned, as Victor Adeboyejo fired them to a 1-0 win of their own on home turf.
The swift return to winning ways saw Bolton Wanderers move back up to third spot in the intense League One promotion fight, and now just one point behind second-placed Peterborough United with a game in hand and two off leaders Portsmouth with two games in hand, they hold a strong position in the top-two race and will look to give their hopes a further boost with a second straight victory at the weekend.
Team News
John Simpson should field a similar Carlisle United starting XI on Saturday to the one that was deployed in their trip to Barnsley last time out, with Josh Emmanuel, Joshua Kayode, Ben Barclay and Callum Guy likely remaining the only enforced absentees through injury.
Attacker Jack Diamond has arrived on loan from Sunderland, but he is unlikely to come in from the start with fellow January addition Luke Armstrong again set to lead the line alongside Daniel Butterworth with additional support from Alfie McCalmont, despite facing further competition from the experienced duo of Joe Garner and Sean Maguire.
Elsewhere, Harrison Neal has also come in to bolster their ranks in January and should again join Owen Moxon in the engine room, while Sam Lavelle, Paul Huntington and Jon Mellish should line up in an unaltered back three in front of new stopper Harry Lewis.
Bolton Wanderers head into Saturday's game without midfielder George Thomason, who will serve the first of a two-match suspension after being shown a 10th yellow card of the season against Cheltenham, while Randell Williams and Kyle Dempsey both picked up knocks in that game and will have to be assessed before the weekend.
Given those struggles in midfield, Aaron Morley is bound to come in and join Josh Sheehan from the outset, while Eoin Toal, Ricardo Santos and Jack Iredale should line up in an unchanged back three.
If Dempsey is ruled out, Paris Maghoma should continue to take up an advanced midfield role in support of the strike pairing of Victor Adeboyejo and Dion Charles, who leads the squad with 17 goals so far this term.
Carlisle United possible starting lineup:
Lewis; Lavelle, Huntington, Mellish; Ellis, Neal, Moxon, Armer; McCalmont; Butterworth, Armstrong
Bolton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Baxter; Toal, Santos, Iredale; Dacres-Cogley, Sheehan, Morley, Ashworth; Maghoma; Adeboyejo, Charles
We say: Carlisle United 0-2 Bolton Wanderers
Carlisle United will be desperate to complete the double over Bolton Wanderers after their shock win in October, and given their need for points in the fight for survival, but we see them being outclassed by Evatt's side who have their sights set on automatic promotion and quality in abundance throughout their squad.
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