Preview: Exeter City vs. Crawley Town - prediction, team news, lineups

On Tuesday, promotion-chasing Exeter City will look to continue their impressive run of form when they welcome Crawley Town to St James' Park for a League Two contest.

The visitors, on the other hand, enter the midweek encounter in a downbeat mood after failing to win any of their last four matches.

Match preview

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Despite playing out a goalless draw at home to Salford City on Saturday, Exeter enter Tuesday's encounter in fifth place, with just a point separating them from the top three.

As a result of their point at the weekend, the Grecians have now lost just once in their last 12 league games, which has ignited their promotion push.

In fact, only Bristol Rovers have picked up more League Two points in 2022 than Exeter, with the Grecians losing just two league matches this calendar year.

Although Exeter will be looking up following their recent run of positive results, they still need to be aware of those chasing from behind, with eighth-placed Bristol Rovers sitting just a point adrift of the Grecians.

They will, however, be confident that they can pick up points on Tuesday as they look to extend their unbeaten home run to seven games.

Meanwhile, Crawley Town occupy a comfortable mid-table position, but they will be looking for an upturn in fortunes after suffering back-to-back defeats.

The most recent of those losses was a 4-1 away against Port Vale at the weekend, despite Crawley scoring the opener in that contest.

A Nathan Smith own goal gave Crawley an early lead in the ninth minute, but a Ben Garrity brace along with strikes from David Worrall and Connor Hall saw the visitors return to West Sussex with nothing to show for their trip.

They face another tough away game on Tuesday, but they can at least be comforted by the fact that they have scored in 15 of their 17 away league games this season.

The visitors will travel to St James' Park with the aim of avenging the 3-1 defeat that they suffered against Exeter in the reverse fixture back in October.

Team News

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Harry Kite is an injury absentee for the hosts, while Jonathan Grounds is also ruled out due to a calf problem.

Meanwhile, Sam Nombe may also miss out after limping off in the first half of Saturday's contest, and he could be replaced in the side by Offrande Zanzala.

Alex Hartridge returned to the Exeter starting lineup against Salford for the first time in three months following a spell on the sidelines, and he is expected to feature in the back three.

After recovering from injury, Kwesi Appiah returned to the starting XI on Saturday, and he will feature in the front two once again on Tuesday.

James Tilley was introduced at half time against Port Vale and the 23-year-old could be in line for a starting berth.

Archie Davies will retain his place at right-back after coming into the Crawley side at the weekend.

Exeter City possible starting lineup:

Dawson; Sweeney, Stubbs, Hartridge; Key, Collins, Dieng, Sparkes; Jay, Brown, Zanzala

Crawley Town possible starting lineup:

Morris; Davies, Francillette, Craig, Tsaroulla; Tilley, Payne, Powell, Ferry; Nichols, Appiah

We say: Exeter City 2-1 Crawley Town

Exeter are currently in imperious form, and we think that they will pick up all three points on Tuesday when they face a Crawley side that are low on confidence after losing their last two matches.