Preview: Swindon Town vs Fleetwood Town - prediction, team news, lineups

Aiming to strengthen their challenge for a top-three finish, Swindon Town welcome Fleetwood Town to the County Ground for a League Two battle on Saturday.

The Robins have enjoyed a pair of productive matches on the road in recent times, whilst the Cod Army picked up a much-needed success at home versus Crawley Town.

Match preview

Following three consecutive years of mulling around midtable in League Two, Swindon Town are back on the promotion hunt, with Saturday's hosts hoping to record three straight wins for the first time since early February.

After a worrying four-game winless run (D2 L2), the Robins have recorded back-to-back away successes over the past fortnight, beating Gillingham 2-0 before squeezing past relegation-threatened Tranmere Rovers courtesy of an added-time Junior Hoilett goal.

Making the net ripple against Gareth Ainsworth's side at Priestfield Stadium on March 17, Swindon superstar Aaron Drinan has now netted 20 league goals this season, meaning that he leads Michael Cheek (16) of Bromley in the race for the division's Golden Boot.

Collecting a maximum total of six points from their past two contests, Ian Holloway's men have moved up to fifth spot in the League Two standings ahead of this weekend's hosting of Fleetwood, just three points behind Cambridge United in third place.

Swindon will need to make a drastic improvement on their home form if they wish to secure automatic promotion, with the Robins winless across their past three matches (D1 L2) at the County Ground.

© Imago

Seemingly reading off a similar script to this weekend's hosts, Fleetwood Town recently halted a four-game winless run (D3 L1), with a strike from ex-Sheffield United marksman Ched Evans sealing victory at the expense of Crawley last Saturday.

In fact, that success over the Red Devils means that the Cod Army have lost just one of their past 10 fourth-tier contests, however they still have a mountain to climb if they wish to make an unlikely playoff push from this point.

Largely down to winning only one of their past five league matches, Fleetwood are languishing  in 13th position in the League Two table, with seventh-placed Grimsby Town boasting an eight-point buffer over their fellow seaside club.

Matt Lawlor's are ranked 14th based on points accrued on the road this season but have conceded just 19 goals across 19 fourth-tier outings, making them the third-meanest away defence in the division behind Cambridge (16) and Oldham Athletic (16).

That being said, the recent head-to-head record between the two clubs hints towards a home victory on Saturday, when Swindon will be looking to extend their unbeaten run in clashes with Fleetwood to five matches.

Swindon Town League Two form:

Fleetwood Town League Two form:

Team News

© Imago / PPAUK

Looking to record their third straight shutout, Swindon should continue with a centre-back pairing of Ryan Tafazolli and Jamie Knight-Kebel.

Experienced attacker Hoilett will be pushing for a start after his late heroics at Tranmere last time out.

As a result, former Fleetwood man Gavin Kilkenny could drop of the hosts' XI at the County Ground this weekend.

There is a battle brewing to partner last weekend's goalscorer Evans in attack for the Cod Army, with Detlef Osong and James Norwood pushing for starts.

Providing the assist for the winning goal against Crawley, Mark Helm will continue in the middle for the visitors.

Swindon Town possible starting lineup:

Ripley; Wright, Knight-Lebel, Tafazolli, Batty; Oldaker, Bodin, Borland, Kilkenny, Holman; Drinan

Fleetwood Town possible starting lineup:

Lynch; Rooney, Haughey, Potter; Bonds, Ennis, Virtue, Helm, Powell; Davies, Evans

We say: Swindon Town 1-0 Fleetwood Town

Hunting down a top-three spot, Swindon cannot afford to pass up the opportunity for a third straight victory this weekend.

Fleetwood's campaign is in danger of petering out, and the next step towards that scenario could take place at the County Ground.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.