With the fight at the bottom end of the Championship table heating up in the run-in, Huddersfield Town will welcome Millwall to the John Smith's Stadium for a crucial encounter on Saturday.
The hosts currently occupy the final relegation place but only sit a point adrift of safety, while their visitors have pulled four points clear of the bottom three in recent weeks.
Match preview
With six games of the Championship season left to play, Huddersfield Town return to the John Smith's Stadium on Saturday with the aim of jumping out of the bottom three, having endured a tough campaign in their bid to maintain their second-tier status.
From their 40 league games thus far, the Terriers have accumulated 40 points, with only basement side Rotherham United managing fewer than their eight wins, while only two teams have shipped more than the 65 goals they have allowed.
Following Darren Moore's exit and a promising run under the temporary stewardship of Jon Worthington, the Yorkshire outfit turned to Andre Breitenreiter to lead their survival bid in January, and while he was able to inspire an initial positive run, overseeing a victory away at Watford and a draw at home to promotion-chasing Leeds United in his first two matches, the Terriers have been unable to build a sustained run since.
Indeed, they have put just two more points on the board in their last five attempts in England's second tier, both of which coming from draws with fellow strugglers, as they were only able to take a point from a trip to Yorkshire rivals Rotherham in a goalless draw, before suffering a 3-1 defeat at home to Coventry City and most recently travelling to 18th-placed Stoke City at the weekend and sharing the spoils in a 1-1 draw.
Bojan Radulovic put his side ahead on the stroke of half time in that meeting, but Ki-Jana Hoever drew the hosts level early in the second half, but having now moved within one point of 21st-placed Plymouth Argyle, Huddersfield Town will know they can exit the drop zone at the weekend if other results go their way, and they are able to make a much-needed return to winning ways and end a run of four home games without a victory.
Their visitors, meanwhile, travel aiming to move all but out of reach of their hosts ahead of the final five games, having majorly improved their own survival hopes in recent months.
A 2-0 home loss to fellow strugglers Sheffield Wednesday in mid-February, taking a losing streak to four matches and a winless run to seven, spelled the end for Joe Edwards's tenure as Millwall manager, and the London outfit turned to former boss Neil Harris to come back and lead a charge away from the threat of the drop.
He was able to inspire an immediate improvement in fortunes at The Den, as the Lions won three of his first four games at the helm, beating Southampton, Watford and Birmingham City alongside a draw away at Blackburn Rovers, moving well clear of the bottom three as a result, but they have been unable to cement a safe finish in three more attempts since, firstly falling to a 2-0 defeat away at Leeds United before the recent international break.
On their return from the break, Harris's men hosted fifth-placed West Bromwich Albion last Friday and took a creditable point from a 1-1 draw, having initially gone ahead through Duncan Watmore, before most recently travelling to a Rotherham side all but condemned to the drop on Monday and leaving empty-handed, despite drawing level through Ryan Longman 12 minutes from time, as Charlie Wyke went on to fire the hosts to a 2-1 victory at the New York Stadium.
Left disappointed by that result which reduced their lead over the bottom three back down to four points with six games left to play, Millwall make another trip to Yorkshire knowing their work is far from over with the need to bounce back on Saturday and move seven ahead of their hosts in the fight for survival.
Team News
As has been the case throughout the entirety of the campaign, Huddersfield Town continue to deal with a long list of absentees ahead of Saturday's meeting, with Yuta Nakayama, Oliver Turton, Tom Lees and Josh Ruffels remaining confined to the treatment room, while Kian Harratt will again not feature due to a suspension.
With their defensive options limited, Breitenreiter should again deploy a back three of Matty Pearson, Brodie Spencer and key man and top scorer Michal Helik, while Jaheim Headley and Pat Jones will hope to continue in wing-back roles.
Jonathan Hogg also missed their trip to Stoke, and if his absence continues, Alex Matos, David Kasumu and Jack Rudoni could again line up in the engine room despite competition from Ben Wiles, while Rhys Healey, Josh Koroma and Delano Burgzorg will all fight to come into the attack after Bojan Radulovic and Sorba Thomas were preferred on Monday.
Millwall will remain without Kevin Nisbet due to a long-term injury, while fellow striker Tom Bradshaw has also been absent since late February and will not return in time to feature at the weekend.
Given those absences, Burnley loanee Michael Obafemi should continue to lead the line alongside Zian Flemming, who has netted seven goals and contributed four assists in the Championship this term, with Ryan Longman pushing to come in from the start out wide after scoring off the bench in their eventual defeat to Rotherham last time out.
Jake Cooper and Japhet Tanganga have been ever-presents at the heart of the back four since Harris's return, and they are bound to continue their partnership on Saturday, with George Saville and Casper De Norre hoping to stay in the midfield from the outset despite competition from Billy Mitchell.
Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Nicholls; Spencer, Pearson, Helik; Jones, Kasumu, Matos, Rudoni, Headley; Radulovic, Healey
Millwall possible starting lineup:
Sarkic; McNamara, Tanganga, Cooper, Wallace; Longman, De Norre, Saville, Watmore; Obafemi, Flemming
We say: Huddersfield Town 1-1 Millwall
Millwall have certainly enjoyed the much more pleasing adjustment to new management in the fight for survival, but their eye-catching upturn in form has been halted in recent weeks.
Knowing they cannot afford to suffer a defeat to a side just above the bottom three, we back the hosts to fight hard and take a share of the spoils.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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