A pair of National League sides currently separated by a single point in the table have an opportunity to inch closer to a playoff berth as Altrincham host Maidenhead United on Tuesday from Moss Lane.
Heading into this fixture, the club from Greater Manchester are unbeaten in their last five domestic contests, hanging onto a 3-2 triumph on Saturday versus Maidstone United, while Maidenhead lost 4-3 to the league leaders Notts County in their previous encounter.
Match preview
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Altrincham never seem to make it easy on themselves, but in the end, they keep finding ways to earn results, winning for the third time since November by a single goal last Saturday.
While their current run has them back in the playoff conversation, trailing Solihull Moors by a mere four points in seventh, they have kept their matches a little too close for comfort.
Manager Phil Parkinson has seen his side concede within the final five minutes in three of their last four outings, allowing an 85th-minute strike from Regan Booty on Saturday, leading to a nervy final few minutes.
They may have difficulty putting matches to bed when given the opportunity, but the Robins have only suffered one domestic defeat all season when leading at the interval, dropping a 2-1 decision to Chesterfield in late August.
The Robins have not lost in 2022-23 when scoring multiple goals, and they have needed that kind of consistency in the attacking third, given their struggles along the backline, conceding 42 goals to this point of the campaign, the fifth-most in the National League this season.
So far in 2022-23, Altrincham have conceded in all but two home games domestically but have only allowed four first-half goals at Moss Lane, one of which was scored by their own defender Liam Brockbank in the opening fixture of the season.
On Saturday, Alan Devonshire's men gave the top side in the National League quite the scare, conceding three times in the opening half but drawing level on two occasions before Notts County finally notched the winner in the 83rd minute.
Maidenhead have been resilient over the past few matches, conceding some early opening goals in three straight league fixtures, but they have not triumphed when trailing at the half all season.
They failed to score in their first five road fixtures of the 2022-23 domestic campaign, but the Magpies come into this encounter with points in four of their last six league games away from home.
So far in 2022-23, they have only managed to win one road fixture against a National League side currently in the top 10, defeating third-place Chesterfield FC 2-1 at the beginning of October.
They have not had much success away from home lately, but this team have managed to keep their road matches tight, with points in two of their last three fixtures, while their previous eight games as the visitors were decided by a goal or fewer.
Earlier this season, Maidenhead picked up their first league victory against Altrincham, winning 2-0, the only two goals they have scored against them in this competition.
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After recently extending his loan deal at Alty for another month, striker Connor Jennings scored from close range on Saturday, while Josh Lundstram notched the opener versus Maidstone United and Chris Conn-Clarke fired home the winner, his first since October 25.
Elliot Newby and Ryan Colclough have each scored once in their previous two home fixtures, both of which resulted in 2-1 wins for the Robins, while Matty Kosylo and former centre-forward Tom Peers found the mark in this exact fixture last season, which they won 2-0.
Brad Jackson was the only substitute used for them on Saturday as he replaced Conn-Clarke, the second time in the last three games that he has come off the bench.
The top goalscorer for Maidenhead this season, Emile Acquah, notched a brace in their defeat to Notts County, with the other strike for them coming courtesy of Kane Ferdinand.
In their victory against Altrincham earlier this year, the home side got contributions from Adrian Clifton and Shawn McCoulsky, while goalkeeper Daniel Gyollai collected a clean sheet.
Devonshire made numerous changes to his starting 11 on Saturday as Will De Havilland, Idris Odutayo and Ryan Upward all drew into the lineup.
Altrincham possible starting lineup:
Byrne; E. Jones, Mullarkey, J. Jones, Baines; Conn-Clarke, Lundstram, Marriott, Newby; Colclough, Jennings
Maidenhead United possible starting lineup:
Gyollai; Asare, Kpekawa, Acquah, Barratt; Clerima, Ferdinand, Smith, Odutayo; Massey, Adams
We say: Altrincham 2-1 Maidenhead United
Maidenhead have not shown enough consistency away from home when facing a formidable opponent, which will be the case on Tuesday, while Altrincham have found ways to earn their share of results recently.
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Joel Lefevre
