Two sides separated by a single point in the bottom half of the League One table will do battle on Saturday, as Burton Albion welcome Wycombe Wanderers to the Pirelli Stadium.
The visitors leapfrogged their hosts with a victory on New Year's Day, while the Brewers succumbed to a narrow defeat to Bolton Wanderers under the temporary management of Gary Mills.
Match preview
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Burton Albion will return to action at the Pirelli Stadium on Saturday aiming to bounce back from a New Year's Day setback and continue their recent improvement after enduring a tough start to the League One season.
Following a 2-1 home loss to Stevenage in early December, their fourth straight loss which also took a winless streak to six games, the Brewers opted to dismiss manager Dino Maamria with the side sat on just 20 points from their opening 20 league outings.
Gary Mills has since taken temporary charge of the Midlands outfit, and while he was unable to inspire an instant turnaround, with their losing run stretched to five matches in a defeat away at Oxford United, the Brewers have since added seven more points to their tally in the last four attempts around the festive period, firstly earning a creditable 1-1 draw away at Charlton Athletic before returning to winning ways at home to Blackpool on Boxing Day as Bobby Kamwa netted the only goal early on.
Shrewsbury Town were the next visitors to the Pirelli Stadium, and Saturday's hosts made in back-to-back 1-0 triumphs as Beryly Lubala scored the decisive goal in the 16th minute, before they most recently travelled to second-placed Bolton Wanderers on the turn of the year and fell just short despite a valiant effort, as Jasper Moon's own goal made the only difference between the sides.
Having now put themselves in 19th spot in England's third tier thanks to the recent improvement, with a four-point lead over the bottom four and little reason to take too much disappointment from Monday's narrow loss, Burton Albion, still under Mills's guidance, will aim to bounce back on Saturday and put an eighth league win of the season on the board to move back ahead of their visitors and climb further away from the drop zone.
In their way stand a Wycombe Wanderers side who will aim to extend the gap between the teams with a second straight victory after bouncing back from a poor run of form which saw them drop deep into the bottom half.
Matt Bloomfield's side moved onto 19 points from 11 outings with a 4-1 win away at Fleetwood Town in early October, but that would turn out to be their last league victory of the calendar year, as they failed to triumph in any of the next 12 attempts, managing just six points along the way and plummeting down the table as a result, culminating in draws with Port Vale and Leyton Orient either side of a defeat to Exeter City during the festive period.
That meant the Chairboys began 2024 in 19th spot in League One with just 25 points at the halfway stage, but they were finally able to end their wait for a seventh third-tier win of the season on New Year's Day in a dramatic contest at home to Bristol Rovers.
The Chairboys led on the hour mark thanks to Ryan Tafazolli's first-half opener, and despite being reduced to 10 men, they would take the lead to 3-0 through Sam Vokes and Luke Leahy, before standing strong to take all three points after Chris Martin pulled two goals back for their visitors in injury time.
Such a result saw the Adams Park outfit quickly climb back up to 16th spot, and with just a four-point gap up to the top half, they will be desperate to build a run of results on the back of that return to winning ways on Monday and put another triumph on the board this weekend.
Team News
Gary Mills only made minimal changes to his Burton Albion side for their trip to Bolton Wanderers last time out, and after a valiant effort in their eventual 1-0 defeat on New Year's Day, we should see a similar starting XI on Saturday, with Sam Hughes, Jasper Moon and captain John Brayford again set to line up in a back three.
Elsewhere, Jake Caprice and Bobby Kamwa should take up wing-back roles, while Ciaran Gilligan will likely continue to join Adedeji Oshilaja and Joe Powell in the midfield.
Beryly Lubala will continue to lead the line, having notched up a team-high tally of five goals so far this season, with Kwadwo Baah hoping to again get the nod alongside him amid competition from Cole Stockton and Mason Bennett.
While Wycombe Wanderers may have wished to deploy an unchanged starting XI from their 3-2 win over Bristol Rovers on Monday, they will be unable to call on key midfielder Josh Scowen, who will serve a suspension after he was sent off on the hour mark in that game.
In his absence, Killian Phillips will likely come in to join fellow loanee Freddie Potts in the engine room from the outset, while Joe Low should again partner Ryan Tafazolli at the heart of the back four.
Veteran forward Sam Vokes will continue to lead the line after netting his fourth goal of the season last time out, while it is left-back Luke Leahy who leads their scoring charts with eight so far this term, and he will again aim to cause further problems in their 4-2-3-1 shape.
Burton Albion possible starting lineup:
Crocombe; Hughes, Brayford, Moon; Caprice, Powell, Gilligan, Oshilaja, Kamwa; Lubala, Baah
Wycombe Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Stryjek; Grimmer, Tafazolli, Low, Leahy; Potts, Phillips, McCleary, Taylor, Sadlier; Vokes
We say: Burton Albion 1-2 Wycombe Wanderers
Burton Albion certainly appear to be heading in the right direction under Mills, but with renewed confidence from their return to winning ways on Monday, Wycombe Wanderers should have the quality to get over the line at the Pirelli Stadium and climb the table with a second straight triumph.
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Sam Varley
