Two of the bottom three teams in the Championship table will do battle in a Yorkshire Derby at the New York Stadium on Saturday, as Rotherham United welcome Huddersfield Town.
The hosts remain rooted to the foot of the division and all but confined to the drop, while their visitors are just a single point adrift of safety with nine games to go.
Match preview
© Reuters
Rotherham United return to action at the weekend in a desperate position at the bottom of the Championship, remaining rooted to the foot of the table with nine matches left to play.
From their 37 games thus far, the South Yorkshire outfit have earned just 19 points, courtesy of three victories, leaving them 19 behind 23rd-placed Sheffield Wednesday and 20 adrift of safety, with the most recent of those triumphs coming on Boxing Day.
That was Leam Richardson's first win at the helm, and while they were able to play out three draws in the following four encounters, the Millers have since had to endure a nine-game losing run in England's third tier heading into the weekend.
That run began in early February, and after suffering a 1-0 loss at home to fellow strugglers and South Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Wednesday at the beginning of the month, they have since been on the wrong end of consecutive 5-0 thrashings, firstly falling away at Coventry City before most recently travelling to take on Norwich City last weekend and leaving empty-handed as Gabriel Sara netted a brace for the Canaries alongside goals from Jacob Sorensen, Borja Sainz and Joshua Sargent.
Now sitting 20 points off 21st spot with only 27 points left to fight for, Rotherham United can only hope for a miracle and will fight to keep their slim hopes alive with a strong end to the season, starting with a home win at the weekend.
© Reuters
In their way stand a Huddersfield Town side who have a far stronger shot at survival at this stage, albeit having dropped into the bottom three in recent weeks.
Following an improved run early in the new year under the temporary management of Jon Worthington, the Terriers turned to German boss Andre Breitenreiter to take charge in February, and his tenure began with a crucial 2-1 away win over Watford, thanks to Danny Ward's brace, before they stood strong to take a point from a 1-1 West Yorkshire Derby draw with Leeds United thanks to Michal Helik's opener.
Despite enjoying a degree of renewed confidence under new tutelage, Saturday's visitors have since failed to build a sustained improved run and head into Saturday's trip on the back of consecutive defeats, firstly travelling to take on Cardiff City last Wednesday and leaving empty-handed as Famara Diedhiou hit the only goal of the contest around the half-hour mark.
Then aiming to quickly bounce back and strengthen their position in the battle for Championship safety, Breitenreiter's men most recently welcomed playoff-chasing West Bromwich Albion to the John Smith's Stadium on Sunday, and despite going into the interval 1-0 up thanks to Delano Burgzorg's goal, they were eventually well beaten as Mikey Johnston hit a brace and Kyle Bartley and Okay Yokuslu found the net in a 4-1 away triumph.
Having now dropped into 22nd spot in the second tier as a result of their back-to-back losses, albeit only sitting a point behind Queens Park Rangers and Birmingham City with nine games to go, Huddersfield Town will be desperate to return to winning ways when they visit the New York Stadium on Saturday with the chance to move back out of the drop zone.
Team News
© Reuters
Leam Richardson will likely look to shuffle his Rotherham United pack after consecutive 5-0 defeats, but his options are limited, particularly in defence, with Daniel Ayala, Tyler Blackett, Grant Hall and Cohen Bramall remaining sidelined alongside attacker Andre Green.
Jordan Hugill and Sam Nombe will both fight for starting spots in attack, after Tom Eaves and Charlie Wyke led the line to no avail away at Norwich City last weekend, while Cafu, Jamie Lindsay and Andy Rinomhota will all hope to earn places in the centre of their 3-5-2 setup.
With Lee Peltier also ruled out, the Millers have fewer opportunities to rotate at the back, and Hakeem Odoffin, Sean Morrison and Cameron Humphreys will likely continue in front of goalkeeper Viktor Johansson as a result.
Huddersfield Town are unlikely to make many changes to their starting XI on Saturday, despite the 4-1 defeat last time out, with Josh Ruffels, Oliver Turton, Yuta Nakayama and Rhys Healey remaining sidelined by injuries.
Josh Koroma and Danny Ward will both fight for starting spots in attack, but Andre Breitenreiter may instead stick with the strike partnership of Sorba Thomas and Delano Burgzorg, who netted his seventh league goal of the season against West Brom, while Brodie Spencer and Jaheim Headley should again offer attacking support from wing-back roles.
Elsewhere, Matty Pearson, Michal Helik and Tom Lees are bound to line up in an unchanged back three, with Helik having netted a team-high tally of nine Championship goals in his 32 appearances this term, while Jack Rudoni and David Kasumu should again join mainstay Jonathan Hogg in the engine room despite competition from Alex Matos and Ben Wiles.
Rotherham United possible starting lineup:
Johansson; Odoffin, Morrison, Humphreys; Kioso, Clucas, Rinomhota, Lindsay, Revan; Hugill, Nombe
Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Nicholls; Pearson, Helik, Lees; Spencer, Rudoni, Hogg, Kasumu, Headley; Thomas, Burgzorg
We say: Rotherham United 0-2 Huddersfield Town
With the chance to move back out of the bottom three, Huddersfield Town will see it as vital that they prevail over a Rotherham United side lacking quality and any confidence at the weekend.
While the Millers will fight hard to end their slump, we envisage Breitenreiter's side having too much on Saturday and taking three crucial points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
