Two sides currently on different trajectories will aim to get the better of each other when Harrogate Town entertain the challenge of Swindon Town at Exercise Stadium on Saturday.
While the away side head into this weekend's encounter in search of a fifth win in six outings, their hosts are aiming to snap a run of five matches without a victory.
Match preview
Having ridden their luck to hold on for a share of the spoils against Crewe Alexandra one week prior, Harrogate Town were left feeling a tad unfortunate to have suffered a 1-0 defeat to Bradford City at Valley Parade on Saturday.
Antoni Sarcevic's opener less than two minutes from the start of proceedings left Simon Weaver's side shell-shocked, and they just were unable to fashion an equaliser despite upping the ante in the second period.
After a 2-0 loss against Salford City to raise the curtain on the new year, the Sulphurites seemed to have got themselves back on track with seven points from their subsequent three outings but have since managed just one of the next 12 points available.
Having finished seven points shy of promotion contention last time out, Harrogate Town are well off the pace this term as they trail seventh-place Salford by a whopping 18 points, 11 fewer than their distance from the relegation zone.
Currently with the joint-fewest points picked up and joint-fewest goals scored over the last five rounds of matches, Saturday's hosts are on a downward spiral and will need to spark a revival to avoid the risk of being drawn into a battle for survival.
Swindon Town made a winning start to 2025 by narrowly beating Colchester United 3-2 on New Year's Day before suffering two defeats in their next three matches, either side of a goalless draw against Crewe.
The second of those aforementioned two defeats saw Ian Holloway's men crash out to Birmingham City in the last 16 of the EFL Trophy a month ago, but they have since been near-perfect in league action.
The Robins made it four league wins on the bounce with a 5-1 win over Carlisle United two Saturdays ago and were minutes away from extending their winning run even further before surrendering a narrow lead against Port Vale last time out.
Lorent Tolaj's strike in the final three minutes of action cancelled out Joel Cotterill's go-ahead strike just past the hour mark off the back of a thrilling first half which ended 2-2.
Now up to 13 points from their last five matches, Saturday's visitors have moved up to 16th in the League Two table, and while a playoff berth looks to be a reach due to their 10-point margin, they are on course to make a late push in the final stages of the campaign.
Team News
Ellis Taylor was handed a place in the Harrogate starting lineup for a fourth consecutive game last time out and is expected to retain his place in the XI.
Free agent Ben Fox will be pushing to make his full debut for the home side after being handed his first appearance in a 38-minute cameo against Bradford City.
Will Wright has found the back of the net in consecutive games for Swindon Town, making the 27-year-old one to keep a close watch on this weekend.
Welshman Joel Cotterill is now just one yellow card away from five for the season, although the midfielder is not at any immediate risk of a suspension.
Harrogate Town possible starting lineup:
Belshaw; Bilongo, Moon, O'Connor, Sims; Taylor, Sutton, Morris, Cornelius; March, Sanderson
Swindon Town possible starting lineup:
Bycroft; Sobowale, Wright, Delaney, Cain; Ofoborh, Cotterill, Butterworth; Nichols, Drinan, Smith
We say: Harrogate Town 0-2 Swindon Town
Swindon are by far the more in-form team heading into Saturday's affair, and anything less than a victory would be deemed less than ideal.
We are backing the visitors to cruise to a relatively comfortable win at the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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