Aiming to make it back-to-back wins and love closer to escaping the bottom two of the League Two table, Carlisle United will welcome MK Dons to Brunton Park on Tuesday.
The hosts sit seven points adrift of safety with nine league games remaining, while their visitors also made a return to winning ways at the weekend.
Match preview
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Carlisle United return to action on Tuesday in search of consecutive League Two victories for the first time this season, having given their slim survival hopes a boost at the weekend.
Following their relegation from England’s third tier last time around, the Cumbrians have endured another dismal campaign thus far, sitting in the drop zone since October having only earned 30 points from their 37 matches.
Mark Hughes arrived at Brunton Park in early February, when they sat on 21 points from 28 outings, and he was unable to inspire an initial improvement in their survival bid, as his first eight fourth-tier games produced just one victory, three draws and four defeats.
That run culminated in consecutive losses to Harrogate Town and AFC Wimbledon earlier in March, but they were able to make a crucial return to winning ways on Saturday, hosting Bromley and picking up a 2-1 victory as Stephen Wearne put them ahead and Callum Whelan restored the lead in the 54th minute.
Now remaining at the foot of the table but having narrowed their gap to safety to seven points, with a game in hands of the team above them, Carlisle United will aim to pick up another important home win to make their deficit four points ahead of the final eight outings.
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Their visitors, meanwhile, will also bid to make it consecutive league wins in what has been their own tricky campaign, albeit not one leaving them threatened by relegation in the final run-in.
Aiming to go one better after last year’s playoff defeat and win promotion back to League One, MK Dons find themselves 18th, having only earned 45 points from their 37 outings.
That is largely down to a dismal run between mid-December and early March, in which they picked up just two victories and nine points from a 17-match span, culminating in a seven-game unbeaten streak in which Scott Lindsey was dismissed.
The Dons have since shown signs of improvement at least, winning two of their last three games under the temporary stewardship of Ben Gladwin, having most recently followed up a victory and a defeat by beating Cheltenham Town 1-0 away from home on Saturday thanks to Jack Sanders‘s early goal.
Now with as many wins on the board in their last three attempts as they recorded in the previous 17 attempts, MK Dons find themselves with 17th, 16th and 15th spots within reach and will aim to strengthen a climb through the mid-table pack in the final months of the term with another away win on Tuesday.
Team News
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Mark Hughes could field an unchanged Carlisle United starting XI from Saturday’s victory over Bromley, with Paul Dummett, Dylan McGeouch, Josh Williams, Ben Barclay, Joe Hugill and Charlie Wyke remaining sidelined by injuries.
In the absence of Wyke and Hugill, Matthew Dennis will continue to lead the line against the club he joined the Cumbrians from last month, having scored twice in seven league appearances since moving to Brunton Park following his MK Dons exit.
Kadeem Harris and Jordan Jones should again flank Stephen Wearne in support of the front man, while Callum Whelan and Josh Vela will continue their midfield partnership.
Ben Gladwin may also avoid changes to his MK Dons side following their weekend win, with Jay Williams away on international duty and Travis Patterson, Sam Sherring and Nathan Thompson confined to the treatment room.
Attacker Jonathan Leko returned from a year-long injury hiatus in a substitute appearance in that game, and he will continue to be eased back into action with Danilo Orsi and Callum Hendry again set to lead the attack alongside key man and top scorer Alex Gilbey in their 3-4-3 setup.
Laurence Maguire, Luke Offord and Jack Sanders, who netted the only goal at Cheltenham, will line up in an unaltered back three, while Liam Kelly will hope to come into the midfield in place of either Joe White or Dan Crowley.
Carlisle United possible starting lineup:
Breeze; Davies, Lavelle, Thomas, Harper; Vela, Whelan; Harris, Wearne, Jones; Dennis
MK Dons possible starting lineup:
Trueman; Offord, Sanders, Maguire; Lemonheigh-Evans, White, Crowley, Tomlinson; Gilbey, Hendry, Orsi
We say: Carlisle United 1-1 MK Dons
Both heading into Tuesday’s meeting with renewed confidence from important victories at the weekend, we anticipate a close encounter at Brunton Park on Tuesday.
It is certainly the hosts who need three points more in their cause at the bottom of the table, but MK Dons have far more quality than their bottom-half standing suggests and will hope to get back to their best under Gladwin in the final months of the season.
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