Should Wycombe and Wrexham not take three points today, Birmingham will be top dogs with a win here.

Goods news then that they are boosted by the return of Willum Willumsson, recovered from illness and straight back into the starting XI.

Meanwhile Lee Buchanan is also in the starting squad for his first League One game of the year after coming back from his calf injury.

Niall McCaughan
Final Score

Gareth Ainsworth is pacing his technical area.

It must be weird for him to be facing Wycombe for the first time since leaving them last year after 11 years in charge.

Even weirder to be across the technical area from one of his most reliable servants during his time at Adams Park, Matt Bloomfield - who has won back-to-back League One manager of the month awards.

Wrexham start this one with two changes as George Dobson and James McClean replace Andy Cannon and Seb Revan.

Zeno Rossi drops to the bench for Cambridge United with Jubril Okedina preferred in the back three.

Perhaps not a massive surprise that Shrewsbury boss Gareth Ainsworth has made five changes from the side hammered 4-1 at Cambridge United last weekend.

Malvind Benning, Aaron Pierre, Taylor Perry, Jordan Rossiter and Leo Castledine are in with George Nurse, Funso Ojo, Jordan Shipley, Carl Winchester and Tommi O'Reilly missing out.

Wycombe have Jasper Pattenden, Luke Leahy and Richard Kone starting in place of Jack Grimmer, Tyreeq Bakinson and Daniel Udoh.

The clock has struck 3pm and battle resumes in League One and League Two.

Hold your nerve everyone, we're going in...

League leaders Walsall will be looking to keep their slender two-point lead when welcome Barrow to the Bescot Stadium. The Saddlers are currently on a nine-game unbeaten run.

Second in the table Port Vale will be looking to bounce back from their defeat against Walsall as they travel to Bromley with Darren Moore’s side just picking up one win in their past five league games.

Fifth-place Grimsby welcome fourth-place Crewe to Blundell Park with Grimsby boss David Artell looking to get a win over his former club and play-off rivals.

MK Dons could make it seven successive league wins if they pick up the three points when they welcome Gillingham.

Swindon sit just outside the drop zone but will have their tails up a little bit after manager Ian Holloway secured first League Two win against Fleetwood last Saturday. The Robins followed that up with a win at Wycombe Wanderers in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday. They travel to Valley Parade to face a Bradford side who have not won in their past six league games.

Second from bottom Morecambe who have picked up 11 of their 14 points this season away from home make the trip to Cheltenham.

And bottom of the table Carlisle who are unbeaten in their last four league games welcome Chesterfield to Brunton Park.

Adam Cottier
BBC Sport

Bromley’s new American investor Anthony Serafino has been out on the pitch for a photo or two here in South London.

He’s the latest person from the USA to invest in at EFL club, taking a minority stake this week.

This football club has not lost any buzz since promotion, especially after a seven-match unbeaten run.

They are likely to be tested though by a Port Vale side left reeling after last week’s home loss to Walsall - Darren Moore’s team still possess the best away record in this division.

Image source, Rex Features

Play-off hopefuls AFC Wimbledon go into today’s game with just one loss in their past six games. However their home league form needs to pick up if they are to keep those hopes alive with no wins in their past four at the Cherry Red Records Stadium.

The Dons who have lost two of their past three league games against Doncaster (W1) will be looking at League Two’s joint top scorer Matty Stevens to keep up his impressive form this season.

Third in the table Doncaster stretched their unbeaten league run to nine games following their 2-2 draw against Cheltenham last Saturday.

Grant McCann’s side have won more League Two points than any other side in 2024 (79), while they have also scored the most away goals in 2024 (40).

Rovers who could go second with a win if Port Vale lose at Bromley have failed to win any of their seven away Football League games against AFC Wimbledon (D3 L4).

Blackpool boss Steve Bruce says he's been surprised by the high level in League One and is now set to face a quality opponent as his side visit sixth place Reading.

Meanwhile, Stockport County may need to make the most out of top scorer Louie Barry after speculation he'll be recalled to parent club Aston Villa in January with a win against Stevenage.

Peterborough will look to put an end to their tricky spell against Crawley Town after boss Darren Ferguson pleaded with fans to "stick with" the team.

While Mansfield Town are navigating a dreary five league match losing streak of their own and could see hosts Charlton Athletic overtake them on the table should they continue their run of poor form.

Rotherham and Northampton Town both put an end to their losing runs last week with a win but now face each other, with just one point separating the two on the league table.

Marc Webber
Final Score

Birmingham City will be looking to play some six-y football today as they have won five league and cup games in a row, and will look to extend that run, last seen in 2012.

They face a Bristol Rovers who have only one won in nine of late.

But the Blues suffer against lowly league sides, dropping points at Northampton and Shrewsbury, so the trap door is open for them to fall in.

Lots of blue noses around the ground today and not just because of the winter weather as fans are fundraising for local underprivileged children by wearing plastic blue noses.

Image source, Rex Features

On 23 November, Birmingham City lost 3-2 to basement team Shrewsbury Town in a shock defeat.

Close losses that were expected to be whitewashed wins can be tough to swallow, especially in a league that's so close at the top, but Blues have done anything but spiral downwards.

They won their next three league games, scoring twice in each, and are now back on track to potentially retake their position at the top should Wrexham falter against Cambridge United and the Salop's cause another upset against Wycombe Wanderers.

Fate has looked a little different for the visitors.

Also on 23 November, Bristol Rovers came out with all three points in a 1-0 win over Mansfield Town.

But they haven't scored since to lose both their following league matches and suffered a 3-0 loss to Leyton Orient last time out.

Will we see the tale twist with the Gas being the ones to stop the rot or will Birmingham's win streak continue to run riot?

When Gareth Ainsworth got the Shrewsbury Town gig last month, seeing when he would be facing his former club might not have been top of his list but he might have had a sneaky look.

Ainsworth kept Wycombe in the EFL before leading them to the Championship during his 550 games in charge but his new job looks a tall order.

Shrewsbury are a whopping nine points from safety and last weekend's 4-1 battering at fellow strugglers Cambridge United must make his opening victory over Birmingham City seem an awfully long time ago - but still, it's early days and you should never say never.

One of Ainsworth's go-to men during his time at the Wycombe helm was Matt Bloomfield - 558 appearances and a bit of a club legend.

Still relatively shiny and new to the management lark Bloomfield did a tidy job at Colchester before getting the call to succeed his mentor and what an impact he has made.

Hands-up who had Wycombe down as League One leaders at this stage and unbeaten in their past 16 league games? Put your hand down, we don't believe you!

With 39 goals in total they lead the League One scoring charts, in fact no-one has scored more than Wycombe in the top four tiers of English football and by the way, only Wolves and Plymouth in the top four divisions have conceded more than Shrewsbury's 35...

Shourjo Sarkar
Commentator on BBC Radio 5 Live

Image source, BBC Sport

Huge anticipation here at Wrexham today for nothing less than three points against a side third from bottom.

The usual gaggle of media here including Disney who film most home games.

Ryan Reynolds is in attendance today, with his actor buddy, Channing Tatum.

Image source, BBC Sport

Image source, Getty Images

This is a first EFL meeting between these two sides in more than 21 years - in fact Wrexham's 5-0 win over Cambridge United in April 2003 was part of a promotion winning campaign from the fourth tier.

If I then tell you the last time these two played each other in any competition was in 2014 in the National League you get the idea of what it's been like in the intervening years.

There isn't much new to tell you about second placed Wrexham other than they have the best home record in the division and their current streak of four successive clean sheets in the league is their best since May 2000 oh, and even a point today could be enough to send them top of the table.

As for Cambridge United, well it's getting better, a lot better. After taking just one point from their opening nine league games Garry Monk's team have since only lost three of the next 10 with four victories.

But, for all that they are four points adrift of safety - a rancid start comes with consequences.

Now, remember that bit about Wrexham having the best home record in League One? Well Cambridge, along with Shrewsbury, have the worst points return on the road and only Stevenage (3) have scored fewer than their five goals away from the Abbey Stadium.

It might be a long afternoon for the U's.

Four games down, plenty still to come.

League One:

Bolton Wanderers 0-2 Wigan Athletic

Leyton Orient 0-0 Burton Albion

League Two:

Salford City 3-0 Notts County

Tranmere Rovers 2-1 Harrogate Town

A double from Cole Stockton and Conor McAleny's opener helps Salford pick up an impressive three points.

Salford came into this game with one win in five games but this win moves sees them move up to 10th in the League Two table.

The Ammies have now won successive matches at the Peninsula Stadium for just the second time in 2024.

Notts County remain two points adrift the play-off places but will see this as an opportunity missed to keep the pressure on the teams above them ahead of the 3pm kick-offs.

This defeat means The Magpies have picked up just the one win in their past seven league games.

A late surge from Orient cannot sustain their winning ways as the Burton defence holds steadfast to see the points shared.

There were calls for Orient midfielder Dom Ball to be sent off after he made a yellow card worthy high kick whilst already seeing his name in the book, but the referee waved away Burton complaints.

Then Orient's Charlie Kelman found himself free to do as he liked in the box to get his head onto a corner but, as it sailed wide, so did the chance for a late winner.

It may have ended goalless but given the handball call in the first half and a Whitfield tumble in the box that didn't go either way's side, there's plenty to reflect on for both managers.

Nathan Ellington
Ex-Wigan striker on BBC Radio Manchester

The Wigan fans can be so proud today because everything came together.

The manager's probably been working on these plans all week and if they can play like this every game they'll be alright.

They were incisive in attack and played simple one-touch football, with real quality.

A brilliant day and performance for Wigan.

Goals from Dale Taylor and Thelo Aasgaard in either half get the job done and they are very, very good value for it.

The visitors' intensity from the first whistle just wasn't matched by their high flying opponents who barely got near Wigan for the opening 25 minutes.

Taylor could easily have added to his tally on two further occasions as they belied their lowly status.

Szabolcs Schon had a golden opportunity to level things when they trailed 1-0 but he scuffed his effort right in front of goal and John McAtee fizzed a free-kick just wide but they were isolated chances.

It's the first time Wigan have won three successive league games at Bolton who miss the chance to break into the top six and their wait for a league win over their rivals will tick into a tenth year.