Karamoko Dembele is the latest to come close for Blackpool, cutting inside from the right flank and bending an effort just past the angle of post and bar.

They're getting closer.

In-form Blackpool are on the front foot in the early stages and Albie Morgan has seen a 20-yard drive deflect past the base of the post.

Looking for a fifth win in six at home, are the Tangerines.

Lee Bradbury
Former Portsmouth forward on BBC Radio Solent

It looks like Carlisle are starting with a 4-3-3, which might be a surprise for Portsmouth.

But Pompey will be confident in their own system.

Also, I think Marlon Pack's experience will be important here.

Mansfield will fancy their chances against League Two's bottom side this afternoon. Will Swan has already gone close for the promotion-chasing Stags, who have made a strong start.

A delay of about five minutes but we have kick-off in the clash of top and bottom.

Sadly it looks as though some medical assistance is required in the stand and so there will be a delay to proceedings in Cumbria.

It's 15:00, the time for talking is over, the pre-match music has faded out and there is nothing left except hope and expectation...

Here we go...

We're moments away from kick-off up and down the country...

Image source, Getty Images

The form book would be well and truly ripped up were Forest Green to get anything from their match at home to promotion-chasing Mansfield.

The Stags are second in the table, four points behind leaders Stockport, and will definitely not want to slip up against the team sat bottom of the table and seemingly sliding out of the English Football League.

Forest Green have managed to draw two of their past three matches but their results over a longer period have been awful. They are without a win in 14 games - a run stretching back to October.

There have been signs of an improvement in the two matches since Steve Cotterill took charge following Troy Deeney’s short and unsuccessful spell as boss.

Rovers showed good battling qualities to draw 3-3 with Colchester last time out and have since signed the hugely experienced Richard Keogh in an attempt to tighten up at the back. But Mansfield are overwhelming favourites today.

Image source, Rex Features

If Accrington are to force their way into the play-off places, their trip to MK Dons is the kind of match they need to be winning.

John Coleman’s side are 11th in the League Two table and an away win today would leave them just three points behind their opponents, who are currently sixth, whereas a home win would stretch that gap to nine points.

Stanley went five matches without a win before beating bottom side Forest Green in their previous away game. They have lost just one of their past five league matches but still have ground to make up in the race for the top seven. Three points today would put them very much in the shake-up.

MK Dons were 18th in the table on 28 October and have since lost just three of 13 league games, establishing themselves as definite promotion candidates. Their home form has been a major factor in that resurgence - they have won seven of their past nine home matches and scored at least two goals in six of those victories.

Image source, Rex Features

AFC Wimbledon host Barrow at Plough Lane in a big game for both sides as they chase promotion from League Two.

Barrow are in the thick of the battle to go up automatically - the Bluebirds are third in the table, five points behind leaders Stockport but just a point ahead of fourth-placed Wrexham.

The Dons, meanwhile, are 10th but very much in contention for a play-off spot - they’re just three points behind seventh-placed Gillingham and have a game in hand. But they are going through something of a sticky patch, having won just one of their past five matches.

Barrow have also stuttered recently but Cole Stockton’s winner against MK Dons last time out got them back on track. It was Stockton’s first goal since his recent arrival on loan from Burton and his new club will be hoping for more of the same.

Niall McCaughan
Final Score at Blundell Park

Image source, BBC Sport

When you’re in this neck of the woods, there are some things you just have to do.

Fish and chips is the obvious one, but Stockport County today would rather be tucking in to three more points to extend their hold on the League Two title race.

Grimsby may arguably serve up the best chippy tea in the land but can Town deliver a first win of 2024 for a home crowd who have seen their side feasted on recently, having conceded a whopping 13 goals in their last three games here at Blundell Park.

Image source, Getty Images

Reading versus Charlton is a significantly bigger game than might have been expected when the Addicks thrashed the Royals 4-0 at The Valley in October.

League One crisis club Reading are on a stunning run of form with Ruben Selles' men notching 1-0 wins over Derby and Stevenage in a four-match unbeaten run which has hauled them out of the relegation zone.

They are now level on points - despite a four-point deduction of course - with Charlton, who have gone 12 games without a win, a run which spelled the end for Michael Appleton and saw Nathan Jones hired this week.

It’s the Londoners' worst run in eight years and, given the Addicks head to Berkshire, where Reading are unbeaten in five and where Charlton have taken just 15 points from their last 19 visits, hopes might not be high in the away end.

Port Vale lie a point behind with two games in hand on both sides, dare we call this a mid-February six-pointer?

Image source, Getty Images

Oxford head to the seaside this afternoon for an encounter with big play-off implications in League One.

The Tangerines are in the midst of a good run against the Us, going unbeaten in their last three meetings – their best run since the mid-1970s.

The omens on that being extended today look pretty good.

Oxford have won on just one of their last eight trips to Bloomfield Road where Neil Critchley's in-form side have won four and drawn the other of their last five games.

For their part, Des Buckingham’s men have taken the points in only two of their last seven road games, failing to keep a single clean sheet and collecting only seven points in total.

Can they stop the rot or will eighth-placed Blackpool cut the gap to seventh-placed Oxford to two points?

Image source, Rex Features

It’s bottom against top – in terms of both the country and League One - as Portsmouth make the near 750-mile round-trip to Carlisle today.

Carlisle have lost five straight, their worst run in more than 20 years, the last time they had a run like this they suffered relegation into non-league football.

Pompey are unbeaten in eight against United – their last defeat coming during London 2012 and will be seeking to maintain, at least, their four-point advantage over Derby, though Bolton are lurking a further point behind having played three fewer games than John Mousinho's men.

Carlisle have only won four games all season, Pompey have only lost four and they have the best clean sheet record on the road in England, with nine in 16 away games.

There’s only one winner at Brunton Park this afternoon, right? Right?

• AFC Wimbledon v Barrow
• Crewe Alexandra v Crawley Town
• Doncaster Rovers v Tranmere Rovers
• Forest Green Rovers v Mansfield Town
• Grimsby Town v Stockport County
• Harrogate Town v Colchester United
• Milton Keynes Dons v Accrington Stanley
• Morecambe v Sutton United
• Swindon Town v Salford City
• Walsall v Newport County
• Wrexham v Bradford City

• Barnsley v Leyton Orient
• Blackpool v Oxford United
• Bristol Rovers v Burton Albion
• Cambridge United v Cheltenham Town
• Carlisle United v Portsmouth
• Derby County v Shrewsbury Town
• Lincoln City v Fleetwood Town
• Northampton Town v Bolton Wanderers
• Port Vale v Stevenage
• Reading v Charlton Athletic
• Wigan Athletic v Exeter City
• Wycombe Wanderers v Peterborough United