Salford City will be aiming to close the gap to the League Two playoff places when they welcome Carlisle United to the Peninsula Stadium on Tuesday.
The visitors, meanwhile, are looking for a positive response after suffering back-to-back league defeats.
Match preview
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Salford City squandered the chance to claim consecutive victories at the weekend, with a Paul Lewis strike proving enough to help Northampton to a 1-0 win over the Ammies.
The defeat leaves Gary Bowyer's five points adrift of the playoffs in 10th place, but they have the opportunity to close that gap with Salford now looking forward to the prospect of successive home games.
After losing just twice in their previous 11 home league encounters, the Ammies will be relishing a return to the Peninsula Stadium in midweek.
They have proven to be a tough nut to crack on home turf, losing on just three occasions in League Two this term, largely thanks to a defence that has kept seven clean sheets in their 14 home league games.
Bowyer will be concerned that Salford City have struggled to convert draws into victories at home, with six of their seven draws this term taking place at the Peninsula Stadium.
Carlisle are the side that are tasked with inflicting a fourth home league defeat upon Salford, but they may be pessimistic about their chances of collecting three points after winning only three of their 13 away league matches this season.
The mood in the away dressing room will be downbeat after the Cumbrians followed a 3-0 defeat away to Forest Green Rovers with another loss on Saturday.
Sutton United got the better of Keith Millen's side at the weekend with Isaac Olaofe and David Ajiboye netting to condemn Carlisle to a 2-0 defeat.
The task does not get any easier for the Cumbrians as they now take to the road for consecutive away games, which is a prospect that will not fill Tuesday's visitors with optimism after suffering eight defeats in their last 11 away league matches.
If Millen's men are to start climbing up the table then they need to improve in the final third, with Carlisle currently holding the worst goalscoring record (19) in League Two.
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Team News
Salford are without the services of Matty Willock, Josh Morris, Luke Burgess and Ian Henderson due to injury issues.
Following The Gambia's exit from the Africa Cup of Nations, Ibou Touray is expected to be available for the midweek contest.
After serving the final game of his four-match suspension, Brandon Thomas-Asante could come into the starting lineup for the midweek contest.
As for the visitors, they are currently missing Kelvin Mellor and Gime Toure due to injury issues.
Dynel Simeu made his debut for the club on Saturday and the Southampton loanee will partner Rodney McDonald in the centre of defence on Tuesday.
After dropping down to the bench against Sutton, Jordan Gibson could return to the Carlisle starting lineup for the trip to Salford.
Salford City possible starting lineup:
King; Vassell, Eastham, Turnbull, Ndaba; Lowe, Watson, McAleny; Thomas-Asante, Hunter, Smith
Carlisle United possible starting lineup:
Howard; Senior, Simeu, McDonald, Armer; Guy, Mellish, Patrick; Gibson, Dickenson, Omotoye
We say: Salford City 2-1 Carlisle United
Carlisle have struggled on the road this term, losing eight of their 13 away league games, while Salford have lost only three matches at the Peninsula Stadium in League Two this season.
Although the Ammies have been inconsistent in recent weeks, we think that they will utilise home advantage to edge out the Cumbrians on Tuesday.
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 Salford City win with a probability of 46.02%. A win for Carlisle United had a probability of 27.84% and a draw had a probability of 26.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a Salford City win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.51%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.1%) and 2-0 (8.44%). The likeliest Carlisle United win was 0-1 (8.47%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.41%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 9.1% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a 2-1 win for Salford City in this match and our data analysis correctly predicted the win for Salford City.
