Couple of early goals to tell you about in League One.

Bottom side Burton Albion, who earned an admirable draw at Huddersfield on Sunday, have taken the league against Peterborough after just six minutes through Kgaogelo Chauke.

And in-form Leyton Orient, who are unbeaten in their last eight matches in all competitions, have opened the scoring after nine minutes at Bristol Rovers thanks to Ethan Galbraith's ninth minute goal

A great move by Exeter as Edward Francis clips it down the line to Vincent Harper who crosses well for Caleb Watts but he fires wide from the edge of the box.

Good football by the Grecians there.

Barnsley win a corner and it's met by Conor McCarthy but his attempt at a header is more shoulder and it flies behind.

Ian Clarkson
Ex-Birmingham captain on BBC Radio WM

Great goal for the Blues, for a player with little confidence at the moment, that's a good finish.

The goalkeeper made a good save initially but good work from Birmingham.

First big chance goes for Notts County.

Rodney McDonald neatly plays Sam Austin in towards goal, his strike was well saved by Tommy Simkin in the Walsall net.

Cameron Humphreys curls a decent effort for Wycombe from about 25 yards with his left foot but it's fairly comfortable for Exeter keeper Joe Whitworth.

The Chairboys are looking to keep pace with the top two today.

Wrexham have looked sharp in the opening stages, putting a couple of decent balls into the Barnsley box.

The Tykes are being forced to try and keep things tight at the moment.

Good atmosphere inside Edgeley Park at the beginning of this one and there is barely a spare seat inside the house.

Stockport's Oliver Norwood takes the first corner of the match short but Odin Bailey's cross into the box is well dealt with by the Birmingham defence.

Wrexham have the ball in the net through Oliver Rathbone but there was adjudged to have been an offside in the build-up.

The visitors are looking to get on the front foot early on, though.

We’re off and running on a fairly miserable New Year’s Day weather-wise across the UK.

It’s stood in the way of two games - Wigan’s clash with Huddersfield and Charlton’s trip to Crawley.

The other 20 across League One and League Two are on.

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Image source, Rex Features

Sir Alex Ferguson is spending his first day of 2025 wisely - watching the League One clash between Burton Albion and Peterborough United.

Ferguson, who celebrated his 83rd birthday yesterday, is in attendance to support his son Darren, who is in his fourth spell of managing the Posh.

Posh fans will hope the 13-time Premier League title winning boss will provide a little bit of good luck after going their last three matches over the festive break without a win.

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Birmingham City have the opportunity to extend their lead at the top of League One as they travel to south Manchester to face Stockport County today, their first league visit to Edgeley Park since December 2001.

Birmingham's 0-0 draw with Blackpool on Sunday meant second-placed Wrexham closed the gap to one point at the top of the table but Chris Davies's side still have two games in hand to rely on to increase their lead.

As for Stockport, they will be hoping to give Aston Villa loanee Louie Barry a welcome send off against his parent club's main rivals, after the 21-year-old bagged 15 League One goals in the first half of the season for the Hatters.

Unfortunately for County, however, Barry misses out on today's match with a reported hamstring injury. He will return to Villa Park after today's match and is likely to be loaned out again to a Championship club following his excellent performances in the third tier.

Interestingly, neither side has a particularly good record in recent years in their opening fixtures of the new year.

Birmingham have begun each of their last five calendar years with a defeat, a run stretching back to 2020, whilst Stockport have lost their first league match in each of the last four calendar years in the top four tiers (excluding 2022 when they were a promoted side).

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The hosts have suffered a big blow before the match as Stockport County forward Louie Barry, who was set to make his final appearance before returning to parent club Aston Villa, misses out entirely from the matchday squad - reportedly due to a hamstring injury.

The 21-year-old has notched 15 league goals for the Hatters but he has now played his final game, a 1-1 draw against Rotherham in which he also scored.

Barry will head back to Villa Park where he will likely be loaned out again to a Championship club for the second half of the season.

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One of the most mouth-watering New Year's Day clashes sees promotion-chasing Wrexham travel to play-off hunting Barnsley.

The Tykes have won two on the bounce since they were thrashed 4-0 at home by Leyton Orient to make it three wins in four.

Barnsley have strangely struggled for results at Oakwell, winning just twice on home soil so far this season (D5 L4), although they have never previously lost a home EFL match to today's opponents (W12 D4).

Meanwhile, the Red Dragons have been embroiled in a neck and neck race with Birmingham and Wycombe for the top two spots, with Huddersfield close behind.

Phil Parkinson's side have won their past two games over the festive period, including a 2-1 success over Wigan on Sunday, and are unbeaten in eight (W6 D2).

If there is one minor weakness for Wrexham, it's their away form compared to at home, with only three wins from 10 on the road (D4 L3), as opposed to 11 in 13 at the Racecourse Ground.

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Wycombe's astonishing 19-game unbeaten run in League One finally came to an end when they lost 2-1 at Charlton on Sunday.

But 14 wins during that time has propelled them into the tightly-contested race for automatic promotion.

The Chairboys are just two points off leaders Birmingham and only one behind Wrexham in second.

They welcome Exeter, who face a tough task against a Wanderers side who have lost just once at home all season.

The Grecians were involved in a thrilling 4-4 draw against Crawley last time out, coming from three goals down to rescue a point, but a run of three wins in 12 (D3 L6) has seen them slip from fourth in mid-October to 13th.

However, two of those victories were over Burton and Bristol Rovers in their previous two matches before that draw with Crawley.

It's tight at the top of League One in both the race for promotion and to make it into the play-off spots.

Birmingham City hold the advantage at the moment with a narrow one-point lead, as well as two games in hand on second-placed Wrexham and one on Wycombe in third.

Any of those three sides could end New Year's Day on top of the pile, depending on how results go.

At the other end of the table, Burton are getting cut adrift and are nine points from safety, while Shrewsbury and Cambridge are at risk of falling further behind if they don't pick up a few results soon.

Just four points separate Rotherham in 17th from Crawley in 21st, with Peterborough, Northampton and Bristol Rovers all in the survival scrap as things stand.

Another game has bitten the dust today because of the bad weather. Crawley's League One clash with Charlton has been called off just 20 minutes before the game was due to start.

"Unfortunately, this afternoon’s match against Charlton has been postponed owing to a waterlogged pitch at the Broadfield Stadium," Crawley said on X.

"We apologise for any inconvenience caused and will be back in touch with more communication regarding tickets in due course."

Image source, Rex Features

Notts County are seeking revenge as they host high-flying Walsall in an exciting Midlands clash.

The two sides met just under a month ago at the Poundland Bescot Stadium in a game which saw Walsall come out on top with a 3-2 win. Since that fixture, Walsall haven't conceded a single league goal over the following five league matches.

The Saddlers have won all of their previous six league matches and sit comfortably at the top of the table, with 12 points separating them from second.

Notts County on the other hand regained their form towards the end of the year, winning their previous three games, including an exhilarating 5-3 victory over Cheltenham.

However, the Magpies will no doubt be feeling the heat among the other promotion-pushing teams. Despite sitting in third, they are just one point apart from eighth.