Fleetwood Town head into Tuesday's fixture with Bolton Wanderers sitting four points adrift of safety in the League One standings.
Meanwhile, Bolton have recently moved towards the mid-table positions, a consequence of collecting seven points from a possible 12.
Match preview
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Having secured a draw away at AFC Wimbledon on the back of parting ways with Simon Grayson, Fleetwood fans would have hoped that their side were on their way to turning a corner.
However, subsequent defeats to Tuesday's opponents in the EFL Trophy and Accrington Stanley in League One has extended their club's winless streak to 11 matches in all competitions.
Caretaker boss Stephen Crainey will almost certainly not stay in the role long term, but he knows that he is responsible for trying to find a catalyst for better things to come.
While Fleetwood were hindered by Daniel Batty's early sending off at the weekend, Crainey would have been aghast at how his players succumbed by a 5-1 scoreline against their North-West rivals.
Fleetwood now possess the worst defensive record in the division, despite having played a game fewer than many other teams, and the pressure is on to keep just a second clean sheet of the season.
Just a week on from their EFL Trophy fixture, Bolton boss Ian Evatt will be hoping for the same result after the Trotters posted a 1-0 win on that occasion.
Bolton are now unbeaten in three matches in all competitions, a much-needed response after back-to-back defeats against Stockport County and Wycombe Wanderers respectively.
Despite sitting just eight points adrift of the playoffs, Bolton are currently having to work hard to remain clear of the relegation zone, the gap having lately been extended to nine points.
Bolton's recent upturn in results has come despite top goalscorer Oladapo Afolayan failing to find the back of the net since October 23, a run lasting six appearances.
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Team News
Fleetwood will be without Batty for this contest, a ban which will lead to a recall for Harrison Biggins.
Shaydon Morris may return on the right flank, but the remainder of the starting lineup could stay the same.
Evatt took the EFL Trophy seriously last time out, opting against making widespread changes against the same opponents.
With that in mind, he could stick with the majority of that team, with Elias Kachunga perhaps the only player to return to the side.
Ricardo Santos is pushing for a recall in defence, providing that he fully recovers from a groin injury.
Fleetwood Town possible starting lineup:
Cairns; Johnson, Clarke, McLaughlin, Andrew; Lane, Biggins, Matete; Morris, Garner, Morton
Bolton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Dixon; Gordon, Baptiste, Aimson, John; Johnston, Lee; Amaechi, Thomason, Kachunga; Doyle
We say: Fleetwood Town 1-3 Bolton Wanderers
On the back of their capitulation at the weekend, confidence will be non-existent in the Fleetwood dressing room. With that in mind, we can only back an away victory, a comfortable one as they bid to remain in contention for the playoffs.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Bolton Wanderers win with a probability of 43.88%. A win for Fleetwood Town had a probability of 30.52% and a draw had a probability of 25.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Bolton Wanderers win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.16%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.04%) and 0-2 (7.55%). The likeliest Fleetwood Town win was 1-0 (8.18%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.15%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 2% likelihood.
