Steve Marshall
BBC Sport at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park

Image source, Rex Features

St Andrew's was bouncing on Saturday as Birmingham showed they can mix it with better opposition in taking Newcastle to the wire in a thrilling FA Cup tie.

But after the disappointment of losing late on to the Carabao Cup finalists, it's back to the reality of the quest for promotion from League One for Blues this evening.

It's the type of game when you might expect a comedown from the standards reached at the weekend.

But a four-point lead at the top of the table - and eight clear of third - with two games in hand is a nice buffer to have.

On the face of it, their opponents could not be better hand-picked. Cambridge are bottom, seven points from safety and have won once in their past 11 league games.

However, they may have an ace to play in boss Garry Monk, who spent just over 15 months in charge of Blues in 2018 and 2019 and will surely be eager to get one over on his former side.

Chris Davies has made three changes to the Blues side which went out of the FA Cup at home to Newcastle in that 3-2 thriller.

Ryan Allsop returns between the sticks in place of Bailey Peacock-Farrell while Willum Willumsson and Paik Seung-ho are recalled with Scott Wright dropping to the bench and Marc Leonard out after that nasty-looking challenge on Saturday night.

Garry Monk has also made five changes to the Us side which drew 1-1 at Lincoln on Saturday.

There’s a full-debut for former Portsmouth man Ben Stevenson while Liam Bennett, Paul Digby and Dan Barton return with Josh Stokes, Jordan Cousins, James Gibbons and Kell Watts all named among the substitutes.

Well, Watts was, but Danny Andrew has picked up a knock in the warm-up and so will be replaced by Watts.

Charlton boss Nathan Jones has named an unchanged side from the one which beat Stevenage 2-0 on Saturday, and the one which drew at Blackpool the previous week too for good measure.

Darren Ferguson has made a swathe of changes from the Posh side beaten 3-1 in their most recent league game at Bristol Rovers on 2 February.

Jed Steer takes the No1 shirt in the league for the first time since 19 October with Nicholas Bilokapic on the bench while Oscar Wallin and Emmanuel Fernandez come in and Hector Kyprianou returns to skipper the side.

Image source, Opta

Walsall have been forced into one of their three changes after Tom Allen was sent off against Colchester at the weekend and Evan Weir takes his place in the backline.

Ellis Harrison and Charlie Larkin drop to the bench, with Josh Gordon and Harry Williams coming in.

Gillingham also make three alterations from their weekend defeat to Barrow.

Remeao Hutton, Max Clark and Liverpool loanee Dominic Corness are the three to come in.

Shad Ogie, Bradley Dack and the injured Asher Agbinone exit the XI.

Image source, Opta

Image source, Rex Features

Top against bottom. It's fair to say the Pools Panel would have this one marked down as a home win.

Birmingham are top of the pile with an eight point cushion in the race for automatic promotion, with two games in hand.

They might have seen their Wembley hopes dashed in the ding-dong FA Cup battle with Newcastle on Saturday night, though their hopes remain alive with an EFL Trophy semi-final to look forward to, but they'll be desperate to avoid having to play a game under the arch in May in the play-off final.

They are unbeaten in 13 in the league dating back to November, their best run in 30 years, and are 15 without defeat at home, winning 12 of those dating back to last April in the Championship.

Looking for omens, Us fans? Well, Cambridge did win the last meeting between the teams, a 1-0 success at St Andrew's in the EFL Cup in 2020-21 and also won the last league meeting back in April 1995 when Take That topped the charts with Back for Good.

St Andrew's tends to be where the lights shine brightest in League One, which may not help the Us, who have picked up just one win in their past 24 midweek floodlit games, drawing five and losing the other 18.

if they can find an upset tonight United could find themselves within four points of safety...

Image source, Getty Images

Reading might be fighting for a play-off spot and Shrewsbury are embroiled in a relegation scrap - but it’s Salop who have picked up more points in their past six games (9).

The Royals have seen their quest for promotion stutter in recent weeks, winning just one of their past six (D2 L3), picking up five points in that time.

Meanwhile, Shrewsbury have won two on the bounce for the first time this season to lift themselves off the bottom and move within four points of safety, giving themselves hope of avoiding the drop.

Off the pitch issues at Reading have been a cloud looming over the club for a while now with yet another proposed takeover plunged into doubt last week.

But victory tonight to apply pressure on the top six would alleviate some of those frustrations, much in the same way it would for Shrewsbury who may just believe a remarkable escape is on.

Not many would have picked this match as a clash of top-six and bottom-six when the fixture computer spat it out in the hazy days of last summer.

The Addicks are seeking to keep ahead of the chasing pack in the play-off race, with the four sides below them within four points at kick-off.

Wycombe's Richard Kone was the last away player to score at the Valley back on 29 December, one of just two goals Nathan Jones' men have conceded in their current seven match unbeaten run at home, five of which were wins.

Posh, by contrast, have taken a solitary point from their past 10 away games, and conceded two or more in nine of those. Darren Ferguson's side have won only once anywhere in their past 10 games across the past two months to lie four points above the drop-zone.

Home banker? Well, maybe not. Peterborough have taken 14 points from a possible 18 at The Valley since 2012 and Charlton's 13-match winless streak against Posh is their second worst against any team, ever.

Get the popcorn ready... plenty at stake tonight in SE7.

Image source, Rex Features

We've got some important battles at both ends of the table in League One tonight.

Leyton Orient were flying along until they were stopped in their tracks with a 1-0 loss at home to Stockport last time out in the league.

That defeat ended their 11-game unbeaten run (W9 D2) which has propelled them into play-off contention and the Os welcome Mansfield looking to resume normal recent service.

Promotion hopefuls Stockport will hope to make the most of the fact that neither Wrexham or Wycombe are in action until Saturday and could apply pressure with a sixth straight victory at 19th-placed Bristol Rovers.

Relegation battling Crawley host Stevenage as they look to narrow the six-point gap from safety, while Blackpool and Rotherham will look to improve on their current mid-table standing at Bloomfield Road.

Now this table could look very different indeed by the time News at 10 starts...

Birmingham will be top, of course, regardless of their result against Cambridge United, but could be seven points clear, and at least 10 clear in the race for automatic promotion, depending how Stockport fare at Bristol Rovers.

Charlton are above the dotted line in the play-off race at present but Reading and Leyton Orient are waiting to pounce on any slip-ups.

The relegation zone is set in stone until at least the weekend, but with five of the bottom six in action tonight, it is a good chance for it all to tighten up.

For example, in a dream world for Peterborough, they could put a seven-point buffer between them and the bottom four, alternatively, the gap could shrink to a point.

Those are the fine margins we are talking about at the bottom end of League One.

Image source, Rex Features

Cast your minds back one month today. Walsall were thrashing Tranmere 5-1 to go 12 points clear at the top of the League Two table, with Nathan Lowe scoring the fifth to make it six goals in five matches.

A day later Lowe was recalled by Stoke and the Saddlers have subsequently won one of their past six matches in all competitions.

A fourth winless league match in a row was inflicted by Colchester on Saturday as the march to League One has become more akin to a trudge – the lead at the top down to six points.

Since Lowe’s departure it has been a roulette over who starts up front, with various combinations of: Jamille Matt, Elias Harrison, Josh Gordon, Ethan Wheatley, Albert Adomah and Danny Johnson leading the line. From that list, only Adomah has scored while starting in the past four games.

Mat Sadler's wheel has landed on Matt and Gordon tonight.

This might be the night the promotion push gets back on the road. They face a Gillingham side who haven’t won since December 14, and are winless in their past 11 midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) league games (D3 L8) since a 1-0 win over AFC Wimbledon in November 2023.

Image source, Rex Features

Underneath table-topping Walsall, the top eight teams in League Two are split by just five points. Tonight, AFCWimbledon and BradfordCity have the chance to make the most of their matches in hand.

The Bantams host Accrington with the primary aim of equalling the club’s best run of home wins since 1954. Victory over Harrogate at lunchtime on Saturday made it seven Valley Parade victories in a row.

Boss Graham Alexander said: “The challenge isn’t going to change for us at Valley Parade. Just because we’ve been winning doesn’t make it any easier for the next game.”

Wimbledon are unbeaten in 2025, with their last defeat coming on December 21, but three draws, and only two goals in their last four have put them on the backfoot. They welcome Crewe to Plough Lane tonight.

Mark Hughes’ first match in charge of Carlisle couldn’t take them off the foot of the Football League, despite taking a fifth minute lead against Grimsby. Regardless, he says he "enjoyed every minute" of his return to management ahead of a trip to Newport County in his homeland.

Tranmere host Fleetwood having lost all three of their meetings as Football League clubs, each while conceding exactly two goals. If they could turn that around then they would pull out either a five or a six point buffer to the relegation zone.

MK Dons have lost each of their last three away league outings but haven’t lost four on the bounce since October 2020, as they travel to Barrow.

It's still almighty tight in the race to go up in League Two with only five points between second and eighth.

At the summit, Walsall will be desperately hoping to get their title bid back on track with the gap to Notts County in second now only six points, compared to 12 a few weeks ago.

Bradford could move into the automatic promotion spots with victory over Accrington, while only a point separates fellow challengers AFC Wimbledon and Crewe who meet tonight.

Gillingham's landslide down the League Two table has seen them go from promotion hopefuls to relegation scrappers.

The Gills still have a nine-point gap to Morecambe in 23rd, though, and are 11 ahead of bottom side Carlisle who travel to Newport County and have the chance to swap places with the Shrimps.

Tranmere will be hoping to put daylight between themselves and the drop zone when they welcome Fleetwood, as will Accrington on a tough assignment at Bradford.

Meanwhile, Barrow are comfortable as things stand but will be keen to pull away if they can this evening.

Image source, Rex Features

Here's a look at the seven games we've got coming up in League One tonight:

• Birmingham v Cambridge
• Blackpool v Rotherham
• Bristol Rovers v Stockport
• Charlton v Peterborough
• Crawley v Stevenage
• Leyton Orient v Mansfield
• Reading v Shrewsbury (20:00 GMT)

Image source, Rex Features

We've got six games in League Two this evening:

• AFC Wimbledon v Crewe
• Barrow v MK Dons
• Bradford v Accrington
• Newport v Carlisle
• Tranmere v Fleetwood
• Walsall v Gillingham

Image source, Rex Features

Welcome to your midweek floodlit football fix.

Two for Tuesday? Try 13. Sure some of the biggest names in world football are locking horns in a continental competition while the oldest cup competition in the world is also rumbling on and there's also a smattering of second tier action - but you can keep those, here we are only interested in League One and Two tonight.

Title races, relegation scraps, play-off pushes and records to be broken, we have them all in store for you, so find a comfy chair and your snack of choice and let's dive in...