Seven places and six points separate Barrow and Harrogate Town in the League Two table entering Saturday's gameweek 25 clash at Holker Street.
Both sides are in underwhelming form going into this weekend, with three wins combined in their previous 20 matches: the Bluebirds beating Fleetwood Town before Christmas and Harrogate defeating Chesterfield and Gillingham in November.
Match preview
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Barrow endured a mixed Christmas period, losing against in-form Salford City 3-0 on Boxing Day before playing out draws at Tranmere Rovers (1-1) and leading promotion-chasing Bradford City 2-1 before conceding a late equaliser.
The upshot of the Bluebirds' past three results means that Stephen Clemence's men have not won since beating Fleetwood 2-0 on December 21, a victory that followed a four-match winless sequence (three defeats).
Despite their ongoing winless run, supporters might take positives from avoiding defeat in consecutive league games for the first time since September, though that was a five-match sequence that included four victories.
Securing four points from recent games in front of their fans offers some optimism for the Cumbria outfit, whose only home defeat since the October international break was a 3-1 loss to AFC Wimbledon in mid-November.
Given their position in the division, success or defeat for the 15th-placed Bluebirds might have little effect, as Clemence's men are nine points adrift of a playoff spot and eight clear of the dreaded bottom two.
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Barrow's seeming peripherality in the competition places an immediate spotlight on Harrogate, whose winless run has been more miserable, as evidenced by losing six of their previous seven matches in League Two.
Those disappointing results are magnified when considering that Simon Weaver's men have fired blanks in four of those seven matches, most recently failing to score in the 2-0 New Year's Day defeat by promotion-chasing Salford.
That defeat leaves the Sulphurites third-bottom in the third tier on 22 points, with second-bottom Morecambe two points behind after securing six points from their preceding three games.
The possibility of sliding into the relegation zone should worry the travelling support, who have seen their side lose six of 12 away fixtures, including three of their previous four at Salford (2-0), Tranmere Rovers (2-1) and Grimsby Town (2-1).
However, with four of Harrogate's losses being marginal defeats, the team's seeming competitiveness outside North Yorkshire could stand them in good stead before their first away match of the new year.
Team News
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Neo Eccleston could replace Rory Feely in the team after the latter was forced off 15 minutes into the Bradford draw on New Year's Day.
Emile Acquah and Andrew Dallas have scored a combined seven goals for the Bluebirds, and the forwards should lead the home side's attack, keen to add to their returns.
Weaver has a fairly healthy squad this weekend, as evidenced by the North Yorkshire club sustaining no apparent injuries in their opening loss of 2025; Ellis Taylor, missing since November, remains absent.
Taylor, James Daly and Josh March are the away side's joint-leading goalscorers with three goals each, indicating the league's second-lowest goalscorers' absence of reliable match-winners.
Barrow possible starting lineup:
Parman; Eccleston, Vassell, Tiensia; Newby, Foley, Gotts, Jackson; Mahoney; Dallas, Acquah
Harrogate Town possible starting lineup:
Belshaw; Sims, O'Connor, Burrell; Asare, Cornelius, Dooley, J. Daly; Duke-McKenna, M. Daly; March
We say: Barrow 1-1 Harrogate Town
The spoils could be shared in North West England, with Clemence's men extending their undefeated home sequence to three matches and Harrogate taking another away point to follow December 29's draw at Fleetwood.
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