Another Saturday afternoon full of hopes and dreams is upon us,

Up, down and across the land we have 88 players, four referees and eight assistants striding out of tunnels ready to make, or break, those dreams.

Kick-off is moments away...

Image source, Opta

Crewe boss Lee Bell makes just one change as Jack Powell replaces Conor Thomas in midfield for the Railwaymen.

And it's as you were for Swindon as Ian Holloway fields the same starting XI which beat Shrewsbury last Saturday.

Striker Ollie Palmer could make his debut from the bench after signing from Wrexham on Friday.

Image source, Opta

Dafydd Pritchard
BBC Sport Wales at Cardiff City Stadium

Both these teams were relegated from the Championship last season but there has been a startling contrast to the way they have started their League One campaigns.

Whereas Cardiff have made their best start to the season since 2017-18 – when they were promoted to the Premier League – with four wins and a draw, Plymouth lost their first four matches before finally beating Blackpool last weekend.

Positivity has been in short supply in the Welsh capital in recent years but, under new head coach Brian Barry-Murphy, not only have the Bluebirds’ results improved, their performance levels have been transformed too.

Fans making their way to Cardiff City Stadium this morning have been talking excitedly about the day – and season – ahead.

Cue a Plymouth win, then, as some of the more seasoned Bluebirds supporters might say.

Image source, Opta

Brian Barry-Murphy has made two changes to the Cardiff side which won 1-0 at Luton in their most recent League One game.

Joel Colwill and Yousef Salech return with Callum Robinson dropping to the bench and David Turnbull missing out.

Tom Cleverley has also made two alterations to the Pilgrims XI which earned their first win of the campaign at home to Blackpool last week.

There’s no Xavier Amaechi and Brendon Galloway drops to the bench with Matthew Sorinola and Brendan Wiredu handed starts.

Image source, Opta

Image source, Opta

Grant McCann has made three changes to the Rovers XI which won 1-0 at Port Vale last Saturday.

Matty Pearson, James Maxwell and Jordan Gibson come in with John McGrath and Jack Senior dropping to the bench and Luke Molyneux missing out after a knock in midweek.

Matt Hamshaw has changed four of the Millers side which were pegged back in a 2-2 draw to home to Wigan a week ago.

ArJany Martha, Dru Yearwood, Shaun McWilliams and Kion Etete are handed starts with Liam Kelly, Marvin Kaleta, Jordan Hugill dropping to the bench and Daniel Gore missing out.

Image source, Opta

Image source, Rex Features

Two sides who came down from the Championship together meet this lunchtime, after vastly contrasting starts to the campaign.

Tom Cleverley’s Plymouth lost their opening four games before getting off the mark against Blackpool last time out, but sit near the foot of the table while unbeaten leaders Cardiff have picked up 13 points from their five fixtures, conceding only once so far.

The Bluebirds have won their past three league games without allowing a goal and will be seeking to extend that run to four for the first time since February 2018.

The omens are good for Brian Barry-Murphy’s men, the Pilgrims have won only two of their past 27 games on the road, losing 19 of them, scoring just 13 goals and earning only 12 points.

Argyle have also lost three of their past five at Cardiff without scoring, including a 5-0 trouncing in this fixture in the Championship last season.

Image source, Rex Features

A south Yorkshire derby seems a perfect way to get Saturday’s League One programme underway.

Grant McCann’s Doncaster have begun brightly following their promotion, picking up 10 points from their opening five matches and cruising through to the EFL Cup third round where they will visit Tottenham.

Matt Hamshaw’s Millers have made a slower start, with one win in their opening four games and going out of the EFL Cup at Barnsley in the second round on Tuesday.

While Rovers are unbeaten in nine at home and have an enviable home record against Rotherham, losing only two of their past 11 encounters, the Millers have had one over on their rivals of late, winning five of the past six clashes overall.

The last time they locked-horns was in 2021-22 when the Millers won 2-0 at home and 5-0 away, in addition to a 6-0 EFL Trophy rout, so look out for some Rovers revenge this lunchtime.

Crewe can lay down a marker to the chasing pack if they can take three points from the lunchtime kick-off.

Lee Bell's men sit proudly top of the League Two pile after five games, but only on goal difference from Chesterfield after their 100 per cent league start to the season ended with a late defeat at fifth-placed Gillingham.

Bell was philosophical in defeat, feeling his side could well have taken all of the points in Kent and called on them to keep improving. The Railwaymen are yet to concede a goal at the Mornflake Stadium this season, albeit after only two games.

Swindon have had a mixed start to the campaign as they head to Cheshire, but could climb into the top three - and move level on points with Crewe - if they can pull off a fourth league win of the season.

It's been a busy week in the transfer market for Ian Holloway, bringing in experienced centre-back Ryan Tafazolli from League One side Wycombe.

Wrexham striker Ollie Palmer was also recruited to bolster a forward line which has lost Botan Ameen to Championship club Norwich and Harry Smith to a season-ending injury.

Image source, Rex Features

Barrow will be looking to make it back-to-back league wins after last weekend’s impressive 2-0 win over Colchester when they welcome Fleetwood to Holker Street.

However it has not been the best of starts to the season for Andy Whing’s side having already suffered three defeats after the first five league games as well as an EFL Cup loss to Preston.

Fleetwood are searching for a first win in four in all competitions after a bright start to the campaign.

The Cod Army could hand a debuts to forward Lewis McCann and midfielder Jordan Davies who both signed for the club earlier in the week.

This will be just the third time in the EFL that these two sides will be facing each other after the Cumbrian side remained unbeaten across their two matches in League Two last season (W1 D1).

Image source, Getty Images

With all the fun of transfer deadline day to come at the start of next week it might be easy to forget there is some football to be played between now and Monday but, as agents battle to squeeze the last penny out of clubs for their clients' services, there are points to be won.

Click here to read this weekend's EFL preview.

Image source, Opta/Rex Features

Brian Barry-Murphy's reign at Cardiff has got off to a promising start and the Bluebirds will seek to strengthen their grip at the top against floundering Plymouth on a day when several of the other early pace-setters face one another.

Image source, Opta/Rex Features

Crewe might have suffered defeat for the first time last Saturday at Gillingham but Lee Bell's men are still top of the pile and will seek to stay there as they welcome Swindon this lunchtime.

Chesterfield, MK Dons and EFL Cup heroes Grimsby will seek to keep up the pace from 15:00 BST.

At the other end Cheltenham picked up their first point of the season, and scored their second goal of the campaign in their sixth match at Salford last night, but were undone by a 93rd minute equaliser, having to settle for a 1-1 draw.

Cardiff v Plymouth (12:30 BST)

Doncaster v Rotherham (12:30 BST)

Barnsley v Huddersfield

Blackpool v Bolton

Bradford v AFC Wimbledon

Burton v Luton

Exeter v Peterborough

Leyton Orient v Northampton

Lincoln v Mansfield

Reading v Port Vale

Stevenage v Wycombe

Wigan v Stockport

Barrow v Fleetwood (12:30 BST)

Crewe v Swindon (12:30 BST)

Barnet v Colchester

Bromley v Harrogate

Cambridge United v Newport

Chesterfield v Crawley

Grimsby v Bristol Rovers

MK Dons v Walsall

Oldham v Gillingham

Shrewsbury v Accrington

Tranmere v Notts County

Image source, Rex Features

Good afternoon and welcome to your Saturday afternoon football fix.

We have 23 games for you this afternoon across League One and Two, four of them kicking-off at lunchtime and featuring table-toppers and local rivals.

We also have a near-full programme at 15:00 BST too so grab a cuppa and some snacks and settle in for five-plus hours of EFL mayhem.