Recent results have led to the market offering Barnsley to beat Accrington Stanley at Oakwell at a backable price, when Michael Duff’s men are rightfully heavy favourites.

The Tykes won the shot count 23-8 in their 2-0 defeat at Charlton Athletic last weekend, with the hosts relying on their goalkeeper, some last-ditch blocks and some fortune in the final third to pick up the three points.

That made it back-to-back League One defeats for Barnsley, but the previous loss saw them go down to ten men after just 11 minutes with the score at 0-0. Josh Benson joins Robbie Cundy on the treatment table after coming off injured at The Valley.

Jordan Williams has received some transfer interest from the Championship this week and it will be interesting to monitor his performance with that bubbling away.

Accrington are in the midst of an injury crisis, hence their slide down the table, with seven players out long term, captain Seamus Conneely will miss out, while Aaron Pressley and Rosaire Longelo are doubtful.

The Tykes home record has not been spectacular this season but they should have enough to get past wounded Stanley.

We were two from three in our League One picks last weekend, with the one loss being an unsuccessful backing of both teams to score when Charlton Athletic hosted Barnsley, however, as stated in the Barnsley preview, the game did pan out as expected and the Tykes created more than enough opportunities to breach the Addicks.

It was the Addicks’ first league clean sheet in 11, and they travel to League One’s fifth top scorers in Peterborough United, in what will be Darren Ferguson’s first home game in charge of the Posh for a fourth stint.

The hosts have plenty of attacking threats, and pulled off an impressive 2-0 win at Port Vale in their first match back under Ferguson’s leadership. 17 of Charlton’s 26 league games so far this term have seen both teams score, a success rate of 65%.

Joe Wollacott, Mandela Egbo, Todd Kane, Conor McGrandles and Chuks Aneke will likely miss out, while Steven Sessegnon is a doubt with a recurring knee problem.

Kell Watts, Joe Tomlinson and Oliver Norburn remain out for Posh, who could climb back into the play-offs with a win.

Portsmouth are still on the look-out for a new goalkeeper after West Bromwich Albion recalled Josh Griffiths, with Joshua Oluwayemi making his league debut for the club in last weekend’s 3-0 defeat at Bolton Wanderers.

Joe Rafferty and Jayden Reid are long term absentees for Pompey while Tom Lowery and Jay Mingi missed out last weekend.

Pompey have won one of their last 15 matches in the league in what has been a drastic drop in performance levels since the opening couple of months of the season. The crowd could turn early on in this one.

Exeter City are taking 1600 away fans to Fratton Park, in what is one of their more local away trips, despite still taking over three hours by car, and the optimists amongst the supporter base will still be believing they can push for the play-offs, five points back in tenth position.

The Grecians have sold Timothee Dieng and Matt Jay to League Two clubs this month, but have brought in Joe White on loan from Newcastle United, and in Sam Nombe, Jay Stansfield and Jevani Brown they boast one of the most dangerous attacking trios in the division.

There is value with the visitors.

It doesn’t get any bigger in the fourth tier this weekend. Stevenage v Leyton Orient sees 2nd host 1st and the league’s best home record host the league’s best away record. 10 and 15 points clear of 4th place respectively, both teams have built their strong promotion pushes on the back of the division’s two best defensive records.

Steve Evans deploys a 5-3-2 for Stevenage that is built around the consistent centre-back trio of Carl Piergianni, Terence Vancooten and Dan Sweeney. Piergianni is the particular standout, an aerial monster in both boxes who has scored four of Stevenage’s last five league goals. Jake Reeves’ tenacity makes him a vital cog in midfield, where the former Charlton pair of Alex Gilbey and Jake Forster-Caskey will both hope to have impactful 2023s.

Evans has a small squad at his disposal, but makes full use of it, regularly bringing on attacking substitutes and favouring an all-out attacking finale should the game call for it. His side are incredibly direct, and able to do so because of the focal point Luke Norris provides.

Stevenage’s style comes in stark contrast to that of league leaders Leyton Orient, who favour a more possession-based approach and a desire to keep adding to their goal tally during a game. In Northern Irish forward Paul Smyth, Richie Wellens has one of the standout players in the entire division, and needs him with current absences elsewhere. Fellow wide threat Theo Archibald wasn’t in the squad last weekend against Barrow, a game which saw full-back Tom James sent off in stoppage time.

James’ suspension adds to a suspension for commanding defender Omar Beckles, his centre-back partner Dan Happe also set for a spell out on the sidelines with injury. Rob Hunt is therefore the only available name in Orient’s starting back four, likely to be partnered by Jordan Brown, Adam Thompson, and Brighton and Hove Albion loanee Ed Turns. It is a makeshift, secondary defence, but still decent quality for a League Two outfit. With weakness in defence, more expectation is likely to be put onto the midfield trio of Darren Pratley, George Moncur, and Ipswich Town loanee Idris El Mizouni.

League Two’s top two only met back on the 27th December, in a game that finished as a feisty 0-0 in front of the Sky cameras. Stevenage and Leyton Orient have conceded just 18 and 13 goals respectively this season, making use of defences that are rarely beaten and frontlines that possess a clinical edge. Even with Orient likely to deploy a second-string backline at Broadhall Way, it will still possess quality and should stand up well against the physical battle of Steve Evans’ team. This game may not prove a title decider, but it could prove a title influencer.

Inconsistent Crewe Alexandra take on a Stockport County side charging up the League Two table this weekend.

The Railwaymen find themselves down in a disappointing 17th place in the table and will not be satisfied with how this season has gone for them so far. They drew 1-1 away at Mansfield Town last time out with defender Kelvin Mellor scoring their goal and missed the chance to win with the Stags going down to 10 men in that one. Speaking afterwards, boss Lee Bell said his side should have been a ‘little bit better’ in the final third but they are still missing some key players in attacking areas which isn’t ideal.

Top scorer Courtney Baker-Richardson, who has scored seven league goals this term, remains sidelined along with fellow striker Chris Long which isn’t ideal. Elliot Nevitt has been brought in from Tranmere Rovers as cover but it may take him a while to get up to speed with his new teammates. Crewe’s form hasn’t been great and they have won just once in their last seven outings in all competitions so they won’t hold out much hope of picking up three points this weekend. In addition, they have only won twice in their last seven home games which shows they are hardly prolific on their own patch.

Stockport are flying and are only three points off the top seven with games in hand on the teams above them. They beat 3rd place Northampton Town 2-0 last weekend courtesy of goals by midfielder Antoni Sarcevic and defender Ryan Johnson in a result that made a statement to the rest of the division. Manager Dave Challinor was delighted with the performance and said it was an ‘important’ three points so will be hoping for more of the same against the Alex.

The Hatters’ right-back Macauley Southam-Hales has been has ruled out with a long-term injury but the experienced Phil Bardsley and new signing Kyle Knoyle from Doncaster Rovers are both ready to step in for him which shows the strength in depth they have. Stockport are picking up a knack of getting points and have lost just twice in their last 11 league matches meaning they are a tough outfit to break down and create chances against. They also beat Crewe 2-0 when they last met Boxing Day thanks to goals by striker Paddy Madden and midfielder Will Collar so should have too much quality for them again.

Sutton United are no pushovers at home and will fancy their chances of beating struggling Crawley.

The U’s lost 2-0 away at Salford City last weekend but are a completely different team when playing at Gander Green Lane. Speaking after that result, boss Matt Gray said his side had some ‘good moments’ in the game so if they can play like that against a Crawley side down in 21st position they should pick up the three points.

The London club don’t have any fresh injury concerns ahead of this one which is good news for them and there is a new face in their ranks in the form of experienced striker Lee Angol. He has joined from fellow League Two club Bradford City and will provide useful competition up top with the likes of Omar Bugiel and Donovan Wilson. Gray’s side played Crawley on Boxing Day away and beat them 2-1 courtesy of goals by defender Joe Kizzi and full-back Rob Milsom which shows they are a better side.

Sutton are a strong team on their own patch and have won their last four in a row there against Rochdale, Colchester United, Gillingham and AFC Wimbledon, conceding only twice. Moreover, they have only been beaten twice at home all season which shows how much of a difference playing in front of their own fans make. If they show up like they usually do in front of them this weekend, they should have no problems securing the win to help them push back into the top half.

Crawley will be nervously looking over their shoulder towards the relegation zone and are only three points above the bottom two. They have brought in Scott Lindsay as their new manager from Swindon Town but he faces a tough job with the Sussex outfit, admitting himself that it will be a ‘challenge’. On the selection front, the new boss will be without attacker Ashley Nadesan as he continues to recover from injury, with Dom Telford the usual starter up front.

Crawley have sold fellow forward Tom Nichols to Gillingham this month which was a bad move considering he was a key player and regular starter, whilst first choice goalkeeper Ellery Balcombe has been recalled by Brentford from his loan which leaves their options between the sticks looking very scarce.

The Red Devils have won just once in their last seven matches and that was against Swindon when Lindsay was in charge there back on 3rd December so they will be looking to halt the slide. However, they are in for a tricky test against a more organised unit in Sutton and with all the anger towards the WAGMI United ownership of the club brewing away in the background, most signs point towards a home win here.

Barrow will be in for a tough test against a Salford City side who make the trip up to Cumbria on the back of two wins on the spin.

The Bluebirds have seen their wins dry up over recent times and drew 0-0 away at Leyton Orient in their last game. Despite that not being a bad result, they only had 34% possession and just two shots on target which again highlights their lack of a cutting edge. Their boss Pete Wild said afterwards he was ‘pleased’ with the result but will know his players are in for another long and tiring afternoon against Salford next up.

On the selection front, goalkeeper Paul Farman has returned to the side over the past couple of games whilst winger Josh Kay is back from suspension. Meanwhile, defender Joe Grayson has returned to Holker Street from his loan up in Scotland with Dundee. Form isn’t on Barrow’s side though and they will need more than just having three individuals back to help them start playing well again.

They have won just once in their last eight matches in all competitions which shows they have lost their ability to grind out results. Their home used to be a fortress as well but they are winless there in their last three outings there after losing back-to-back games against Swindon Town and Tranmere Rovers and then being held by lowly Rochdale last time out which doesn’t bode well.

Salford look strong at the moment and have won their last two against Northampton Town and Sutton United. They beat the latter 2-0 in their last clash after a brace by in-form Conor McAleny, who has scored five in his last three league matches, and their manager Neil Wood said he was ‘happy’ with the result. On the injury front, midfielder Matty Lund remains out of action but isn’t missed at all with the squad having loads of quality players in his position such as Ethan Galbraith, Ryan Watson and Elliott Watt.

Salford have boosted their attacking department by bringing in Callum Morton from Fleetwood Town and he will provide useful competition to the likes of Matt Smith and Callum Hendry up front. The Ammies are going well in the league and have lost just once in their last six as they sit in 5th position in the table, just five points off the automatic promotion places. In addition, they have also won two out of their last three away games, one being a 3-0 win at Gillingham and the other