The home side start swiftly.

Midfielder Jon Russell finds himself in the box and on the right end of some midfield magic but can only send his shot wayward of the target.

Fourth-placed Birmingham could be in front already at a wet and windy St James Park.

Keshi Anderson presses the Exeter defence, winning the ball to set up Alfie May, who is surprisingly wasteful, big early chance missed, the Grecians getting away with one there.

For the home side Ryan Woods returns in midfield with Vinnie Harper back in too.

Plus, a first league start for Jay Bird, the MK Dons Academy product signed in the summer.

For the Blues, Ben Davies and Alfie May come back in, the latter to partner tonight's main storyline Jay Stansfield up top.

And the midweek games begin....

Image source, BBC Sport

Wycombe Wanderers are four points clear at the top so there's no threat to their position tonight but they will definitely be looking to extend that lead by keeping their incredible winning streak alive.

There's no Stockport County in action tonight so vying for spot number two will be Wrexham and Birmingham City.

The Red Dragons have been enjoying their promotion to League One so far this season and will fancy their chances at keeping Blues at bay to stay in the automatic promotion spot with a home win against Lincoln City.

But Birmingham led the league and will want to start closing the gap to return to the peak once more.

Here are all the games in action tonight for League One and League Two:

League One

• Barnsley v Reading
• Bristol Rovers v Blackpool
• Burton Albion v Charlton Athletic
• Cambridge United v Bolton Wanderers
• Exeter v Birmingham
• Leyton Orient v Huddersfield Town
• Wigan Athletic v Northampton Town
• Wrexham v Lincoln City
• Wycombe Wanderers v Mansfield Town

League Two

• Tranmere Rovers v AFC Wimbledon
• Walsall v Bromley

Two non-featured games in League Two come from Tranmere and Walsall.

Tranmere host AFC Wimbledon with the Rovers having won one of their last four league games against Wimbledon (drawn one and lost two), conceding nine goals in total.

Tranmere are looking to secure consecutive home league wins for the first time since a run of three across February/March.

Wimbledon won their last away League Two game 3-1 at Barrow, but haven’t won consecutively on the road in the league since September/October 2023, when they beat Walsall and then Harrogate Town.

Talking of Walsall, they make history tonight as this will be the first-ever meeting in the Football League between the Saddlers and Bromley.

They become Walsall's 137th different opponent in the Football League.

Walsall are currently second and have only lost two of their last 26 first-time games against an opponent in the top four tiers, losing to Yeovil in 2005 and Salford in 2019. Bromley are 21st but have two games in hand on all those below them.

A win for fifth-placed Huddersfield Town at Leyton Orient would be a big boost for the Yorkshire club in their promotion challenge. The Terriers have won just three of their past 21 away league matches but are unbeaten in their past five trips to Brisbane Road - and have scored at least twice on their three most recent visits.

Meanwhile, bottom side Burton Albion are at home to Charlton Athletic, Bristol Rovers host Blackpool,Bolton Wanderers visit Cambridge United and Northampton Town are away to Wigan Athletic, who have lost their past two home league games.

Image source, Rex Features

Wycombe Wanderers are looking to extend their lead at the top of the League One table as they welcome Mansfield Town to Adams Park for a rescheduled round five fixture this evening.

The Chairboys have picked up an impressive 35 points out of a possible 39 in their last 13 league games, winning each of their last seven matches, scoring 19 goals and conceding just five times along the way.

They have also won their last five home league matches – they last had a longer home winning run between April and October 2021 (8 wins).

However, Wanderers are winless in their last four league meetings with Mansfield (drawn two and lost two) since a 1-0 win in March 2016.

Mansfield have won four of their last six away league games against Wycombe, winning their last two visits, both in 2017 under Steve Evans.

They are coming into this clash on a three-match winless streak in League One. The Stags are in 10th place with 24 points, two points off the final play-off spot, but Nigel Clough's side have played only 14 matches (the joint least in the league).

Mansfield have won three of their last four away league games, but did lose 1-0 at Wrexham last time on the road. They haven’t lost consecutive away league games since the first three away games of their 2022-23 season.

Image source, Rex Features

Wrexham midfielder Ollie Rathbone said that his side were not "a flash in the pan" earlier this week and as consistent residents in the top two of League One, the Welsh club are certainly proving that to be the case.

Tonight they welcome fellow promotion contenders Lincoln City to the STOK Racecourse but the visitors are going through a bit of down spell.

The Imps lost last time out - albeit to league leaders Wycombe Wanderers - and haven't won a league match since October.

There's also the fact that the Lincolnshire side haven't won against the Red Dragons in an EFL match in any of their past four attempts, though they did take victory in their most recent meeting in November 2016 with a 1-0 win in the National League.

Of course, those stats are all prehistoric when it comes to the fast changing nature of football and don't stand for a lot in terms of today's outcome.

Something that does though is that Wrexham will be in the top four regardless of tonight's results while the Imps could find themselves out of the top ten if things don't go their way.

Can Lincoln get back into their groove with a big win over their promotion rivals?

Image source, Getty

Talk of emotional returns is probably overused in football reporting, but there’s no doubt it applies to Jay Stansfield’s return to Exeter this evening. It will definitely be emotional.

The 21-year-old Birmingham City forward began his career with Exeter City, and his father Adam, who died of cancer in 2010 at the age of just 31, made 158 appearances for the Devon club. When he returned to St James Park on loan from Fulham for the 2022-2023 season, Stansfield was given the number nine shirt his father wore for the Grecians, and scored nine goals in 39 appearances.

Having joined Blues during the summer for a reported £15m - a record transfer fee for the third tier - he is a key part of their bid to return to the Championship at the first attempt. They need to get that promotion challenge back on track - a run of three league games without a win has resulted in a drop from the top of the table to fourth, although they have played fewer matches than the teams around them.

Exeter are 11th and underdogs for the first league meeting between these clubs since March 1992. But they are tough to beat at home, where they have kept a clean sheet in four of their past five games. In fact they have conceded more than twice in just one of their 45 home league games under boss Gary Caldwell.

Despite his team’s recent wobble, Stansfield arrives back in the south west in decent form, having scored in both of his most recent appearances. Five of his nine goals this season have come in his past five matches.

Image source, Rex Features

Tuesdays at Oakwell have been quite the party as of late.

Barnsley haven't lost a single home game on the first day of midweek since losing to Portsmouth in September 2023 (W3 D3) but today, they are going to have to get past a tricky opponent if they are to keep the celebrations going.

Oakwell also holds some fond memories for visitors Reading, who are unbeaten at the South Yorkshire football ground in their past 11 league matches.

Though the county itself has not been as kind to the Royals, having lost five of their past seven league visits to a Yorkshire side.

The Tykes will be hoping to add salt into that wound and finally make their pitch one to fear - as well as cement Tuesday as their new favourite day of the week.

But given that the past five editions of this fixture have all ended in draws - and that both teams are so tightly knit on the table with 26 points apiece - could another stalemate be in store?

Happy Tuesday EFL fans!

We have nine League One games for you to feast your eyes on while only Bescot Stadium and Prenton Park will see midweek action in League Two.

Wycombe Wanderers will go into their game comfy and cosy knowing that they will end the day in the top spot even if they do fall to Mansfield Town - but the battle for second is very much on the cards tonight.

Wrexham will need to fend off a challenge from a Lincoln City side who hope to overcome a dip in form, while Birmingham City visit an Exeter City side who thrive on home soil.

As for League Two, Port Vale will be watching knowing their slot at the top is safe but Walsall will be wanting to make that gap a little shorter as they host Bromley.