Two sides on lengthy unbeaten runs will battle it out in the race for promotion when Colchester United take on Port Vale at the Jobserve Community Stadium on Tuesday in League Two.
The U's will be hoping to make it four wins on the bounce in midweek, while the Valiants will be looking to get back to winning ways after a series of draws.
Match preview
Danny Cowley's Colchester started 2025 with three consecutive losses but have since gone 11 games without defeat, winning seven and drawing four going back to mid-January.
Last time out, the U's followed up back-to-back 1-0 wins over MK Dons and Chesterfield by taking all three points against Cheltenham Town by the same scoreline.
That victory has Cowley's side ninth in the fourth tier ahead of their midweek clash, four points behind both eighth-placed Grimsby Town and seventh-placed Crewe Alexandra, their rivals for a spot in the playoffs.
The hosts will be confident of potentially closing that gap to a single point on Tuesday given that they have lost just one of their 12 games on their own turf since October.
However, while the manager will be pleased with the defensive solidity that Colchester have shown to keep three clean sheets in a row, he will be concerned that they have not scored more than once in any of their last six matches.
Meanwhile, Darren Moore's Vale may be unbeaten in League Two this year but they have won less than half of their games in 2025, drawing six of their 11 fourth-tier fixtures.
On Saturday, the Valiants' Lorent Tolaj rescued a point for his team with a 96th-minute penalty against Fleetwood Town, maintaining their undefeated streak but extending their winless run to three games nonetheless.
The visitors also seem likely to make it four without victory on Tuesday, considering that they have drawn their last four away matches on the bounce and have taken maximum points just once on the road in the league since mid-December.
That being said, Moore's side are under pressure from Crewe and Grimsby, both of whom are just two points behind, meaning that defeat in midweek could see them fall out of the playoff spots.
On the other hand, an unlikely win would be enough to take Vale above Notts County and AFC Wimbledon, moving them to within one point of Doncaster Rovers in the automatic promotion places.
Team News
Colchester may be missing versatile winger John-Kymani Gordon in midweek after he was taken off with an injury against Cheltenham last time out.
In his absence, expect right-winger Harry Anderson, who netted the winner on Saturday, to support Lyle Taylor and Samson Tovide in the forward line.
As for Vale, striker Antwoine Hackford was replaced at half time against Fleetwood by Ronan Curtis, and Moore could start the substitute alongside Lorent Tolaj up top on Tuesday.
Elsewhere, full-back Mitchell Clark could join the XI in place of left wing-back Sam Hart after the manager brought him on early last time out.
Colchester United possible starting lineup:
Macey; Egbo, Tucker, Flanagan, Iandolo; McDonell; Anderson, Payne, Edwards; Taylor, Tovide
Port Vale possible starting lineup:
Amos; Debrah, Smith, Hall; Byers; Sang, Croasdale, Walters, Clark; Curtis, Tolaj
We say: Colchester United 1-1 Port Vale
Both teams have shown their resilience in recent weeks, and their ability to find ways to avoid defeat suggests that they will play out a close contest in midweek.
Also, given that Colchester have conceded very few goals recently while also scoring very few of their own means that Tuesday's game should be low scoring once again.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
body check tags ::
Previews by email
