A key battle in the fight for National League playoff places will take place at The Shay on Wednesday, as Halifax Town welcome Rochdale.
The hosts currently sit sixth, while their visitors are seven points behind in eighth spot but with four games in hand and three in hand on Altrincham in the final top-seven place.
Match preview
© Imago
Halifax Town return to action at The Shay on Wednesday with the aim of strengthening their top-seven standing in the National League, having laid a strong claim thus far after last season's playoff quarter-final defeat.
The Shaymen currently sit sixth having earned 51 points from their 31 outings, thus far, winning 14 of those including five of their last seven games.
Chris Millington's men stretched an unbeaten streak to seven matches with three straight victories across late January and early February, only to go on to suffer defeats to AFC Fylde and Southend United either side of a 2-1 away win over Tamworth.
Aiming to bounce back from that latest setback, the Shaymen most recently hosted Boston United on Saturday and took all three points as Jamie Cooke netted the only goal on the hour mark.
Now sitting sixth and only trailing fifth-placed Gateshead and fourth-placed Oldham Athletic by one and five points respectively, Halifax Town will aim to make it back-to-back triumphs on Wednesday and further solidify their position in the playoff places.
They face a tough test, though, as the visitors arrive at the Shay aiming to narrow their gap to the top seven.
Rochdale have enjoyed a strong campaign of their own thus far, currently sitting eighth with 44 points on the board from 27 outings and at least three games in hand on every team in the top seven.
Jimmy McNulty's side do head into Wednesday's trip aiming to end a three-match winless run, though, having seen a 4-0 beating of Yeovil Town followed up by a 1-0 home loss to fourth-placed Oldham Athletic.
A disappointing goalless stalemate with basement side Ebbsfleet United then followed, before the Dale most recently visited Southend United and led 1-0 through Devante Rodney until the final 10 minutes, only for a Liam Hogan own goal to force a share of the spoils.
Now trailing seventh-placed Altrincham and the sixth-placed hosts by seven with three and four games in hand respectively, Rochdale will bid to strengthen their playoff claim with a return to winning ways in midweek.
Team News
© Imago
Halifax Town could be unchanged from their 1-0 win at the weekend, with Jamie Cooke continuing to play a key role in the attacking unit, having moved onto a team-high tally of seven league goals for the season in that game against Boston United.
He could again join wingers Angelo Capello and Luca Thomas in support of lone striker Zak Emmerson, although Max Wright will also compete to return from the outset.
Florent Hoti and Tom Pugh will both push to return to the midfield but may again have to settle for a place on the bench with Jack Evans and Huddersfield Town loanee Scott High likely to get the nod again.
Rochdale should again line up in a 3-4-3 setup on Wednesday, with Kairo Mitchell continuing to lead the line having notched up 12 goals in 25 National League games so far this term.
Devante Rodney will continue in a front three too, having netted his ninth goal of the season in their draw at the weekend, while Sheffield United loanee Jili Buyabu may drop into a left wing-back role to leave room for Connor McBride to return on the wing.
Elsewhere, Harvey Gilmour should continue to join Ryan East in the engine room, while mainstays Kyron Gordon and Sam Beckwith will again join Liam Hogan in a back three.
Halifax Town possible starting lineup:
Johnson; Senior, Smith, Arthur, Galvin; High, Evans; Thomas, Cooke, Capello; Emmerson
Rochdale possible starting lineup:
Waller; Gordon, Hogan, Beckwith; Adebayo-Rowling, East, Gilmour, Buyabu; Rodney, Mitchell, McBride
We say: Halifax Town 1-1 Rochdale
With both sides boasting plenty of quality and having experienced very similar seasons, given the visitors trail by seven points with four games in hand, we anticipate a tight and hard-fought contest at The Shay on Wednesday and see a share of the points as the most likely outcome.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
