Despite winning just twice
since Christmas, Barrow will feel confident of stepping up their promotion
challenge at home to basement boys Forest Green Rovers.
The fourth-placed Bluebirds
are just a point behind the top three, facing opponents who have not registered
a League Two win in 15 games and have young goalkeeper Vicente Reyes making his EFL debut after signing from Norwich on an emergency loan deal.
MK Dons, in sixth place, travel to
Bradford City while the swelling pack of teams eyeing play-off spots include
AFC Wimbledon, on the road at Accrington Stanley, and Gillingham, who host
Swindon.
One of the division’s in-form
sides are Newport County, who have rattled off four wins on the bounce and take
on fellow top-seven contenders Notts County at Rodney Parade.
Tucked in just behind the pair are Morecambe, also on something of a roll with three victories in their last four games as they head to Tranmere.
Hollywood on the rocks
Sutton v Wrexham (19:45 GMT)
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Wrexham are nicely placed, fifth in League Two and just points outside automatic promotion.
But their challenge has been rocked by three straight defeats, only scoring one goal.
So can they get back on track at lowly Sutton, who are seven points from safety and haven’t won since Boxing Day?
Stags aim for hat-trick
Mansfield v Harrogate (19:45 GMT)
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Mansfield can close to within a point of the top of League Two tonight if they can claim a third win in a row.
They’re back at Field Mill after a 4-0 thumping of Forest Green on Saturday but might have harder work to get past Harrogate tonight, who start the game in seventh.
The Yorkshire side have won four of their last five to climb into the play-offs.
Game of the night
Stockport v Crewe (19:45 GMT)
Rex FeaturesCopyright: Rex Features
What a cracker this could be at Edgeley Park with Stockport, top of League Two, hosting third-placed Crewe.
Stockport will hope to preserve their four-point lead at the top of League Two and arrive with three wins from their last four games.
Crewe start the night seven points behind their hosts and needed a second-half winner to squeeze past Crawley 1-0 on Saturday.
Elsewhere in League One...
#bbcefl
Rex FeaturesCopyright: Rex Features
Bolton will look to rediscover the winning habit and maintain the pressure on second-placed Derby as they host their fellow Wanderers Wycombe tonight.
A point behind Derby with two games in hand, Ian Evatt's side have posted successive 1-1 draws - while the Chairboys head north on the back of two victories, most recently a 5-2 thrashing of Peterborough.
Fifth-placed Posh are inactive this evening after heavy rainfall wiped out their game against Port Vale, while Barnsley, in fifth, must do without head coach Neill
Collins as he serves a touchline ban at Shrewsbury.
At the other end of the
table, resurgent Reading seek their third win in a row – a feat the troubled
Berkshire club have not achieved for 18 months – at fellow strugglers Fleetwood
Town.
The Cod Army are floundering, just one place above rock-bottom Carlisle, whose game at Burton Albion was a late victim of the wet weather.
Will Addicks' 13 prove unlucky for Lincoln?
Charlton v Lincoln (19:45 GMT kick-off)
Rex FeaturesCopyright: Rex Features
The Addicks' Place is currently 20th - out of the League One relegation zone on goal-difference alone after 13 games without a winImage caption: The Addicks' Place is currently 20th - out of the League One relegation zone on goal-difference alone after 13 games without a win
Nathan Jones will be desperate to avoid some unwanted history
as he prepares to take charge of his first home game as Charlton manager as
Lincoln visit The Valley.
The Addicks are only out of the League One relegation zone on goal difference
following their 2-0 defeat at fellow strugglers Reading on Saturday – their 13th
game without a win.
Defeat against the Imps tonight would make it five straight
home defeats, a fate they have only suffered once before, in September 1990.
After coming from behind to beat Fleetwood on Saturday, Lincoln
are 10th and though they have a good record in London, with 12
points from their last six visits to the capital, their record at Charlton is
poor, with six defeats in their last eight.
With Port Vale's game off, they will have three games in hand on Jones' side by 22:00 GMT, can the Addicks put any distance between the teams before then?
Rams seeking to bounce back at SJP
Exeter v Derby (19:45 GMT kick-off)
Rex FeaturesCopyright: Rex Features
A 410-mile round-trip on a filthy night like this isn't for everyone, but it might be just what Derby need,
Paul Warne's men were stung by a late equaliser at home to Shrewsbury
on Saturday and, despite having a game in hand, are now six points adrift of
leaders Portsmouth.
They won’t mind getting back into action, and back on their
travels, just 75 hours later as they make the long trek to Devon.
The Rams have won six of their last eight road games and Championship leaders Leicester are the only side in the top four tiers to have picked up more than
Derby’s 10 away wins this season.
The Grecians have never beaten County in the league but, if
they can break that duck tonight, it will mean successive home wins for the first
time in a year, and could mean a return to the top-half of League One.
Blues and Us face-off with vastly different priorities
Portsmouth v Cambridge (19:45 GMT kick-off)
Rex FeaturesCopyright: Rex Features
After a dream Saturday, Portsmouth will be seeking to strengthen
their grip at the top of League One against Cambridge this evening.
Paddy Lane’s winner at Carlisle, coupled with closest rivals Derby and
Bolton dropping points, saw the Blues move six points clear at the summit and take promotion into their own hands.
They’ll be pretty confident the cushion is still at least six by bedtime as Pompey
have won seven of their nine leagues matches against Cambridge at Fratton Park and
13 of the 19 fixtures they have contested overall.
The Us went down at home to lowly Cheltenham at the weekend
and are now only four points above the drop zone.
If they can pull of an upset tonight it would surely be the biggest flip in the whole of pancake day.
Moore brought in to 'galvanise and energise' Port Vale
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Darren Moore is back.
Just 15 days after losing his job at Huddersfield after only three wins in 23 games, the former West Brom, Sheffield Wednesday and Doncaster Rovers boss, has returned to management at Port Vale.
His brief is a, well, brief one - keep Vale in League One. It's a tough one too with the club sitting in the last relegation spot in 21st place, but only adrift of safety on goal difference (albeit a big one, 10 worse than Charlton's).
Vale's director of football David Flitcroft said Moore had been brought in to "come in and galvanise and energise the club" and that that he has "a plan of how he wants to lead the club from the very front."
The 49-year-old has time on his side to do that - at least on paper - having signed a five-and-a-half-year contract at Burslem.
He was due to watch from the stands tonight in the hope that his side use some of that new-manager bounce to upset promotion-chasing Peterborough - until heavy rain led the game to be called off - one of three of tonight's fixtures to have been postponed thus far.
He'll get the chance from the dugout in Saturday's trip to Cheltenham though.
League Two fixtures (all 19:45 GMT)
#bbcefl
Accrington v AFC Wimbledon
Barrow v Forest Green
Bradford City v MK Dons
Colchester P-P Grimsby (due to waterlogged pitch)
Crawley v Walsall
Gillingham v Swindon
Mansfield v Harrogate
Newport v Notts County
Salford v Doncaster
Stockport v Crewe
Sutton v Wrexham
Tranmere v Morecambe
League One fixtures (all 19:45 GMT)
#bbcefl
Bolton v Wycombe
Burton P-P Carlisle (due to waterlogged pitch)
Charlton v Lincoln
Cheltenham v Blackpool
Exeter v Derby
Fleetwood v Reading
Leyton Orient v Northampton
Oxford United v Wigan
Peterborough P-P Port Vale (due to waterlogged pitch)
Portsmouth v Cambridge
Shrewsbury v Barnsley
Stevenage v Bristol Rovers
Welcome to another feast of full-on football
#bbcefl, WhatsApp 03301231826, text 81111 (UK only, standard rates apply)
Rex FeaturesCopyright: Rex Features
The Champions League may be back but so is the EFL in all its glory tonight.
Along with the amuse-bouche of seven Championship games (all the action here), there is (on these pages at least) a slap-up feast of 21 matches across League One and League Two to get your juices jumping.
The fight for promotion and relegation cranks up another notch on the intense-o-meter and, after three postponements, we can throw in a typically filthy February night of weather into the mix too.
Don't forget, as ever, you can have your say via either X, WhatsApp or text (details above).
So forget that fancy European footy anthem, we've got 42 teams ready to turn it up to 11.
Live Reporting
Alex Hoad, Alex Winter, Ben Kosky and Harry De Cosemo
All times stated are UK
Elsewhere in League Two...
#bbcefl
Despite winning just twice since Christmas, Barrow will feel confident of stepping up their promotion challenge at home to basement boys Forest Green Rovers.
The fourth-placed Bluebirds are just a point behind the top three, facing opponents who have not registered a League Two win in 15 games and have young goalkeeper Vicente Reyes making his EFL debut after signing from Norwich on an emergency loan deal.
MK Dons, in sixth place, travel to Bradford City while the swelling pack of teams eyeing play-off spots include AFC Wimbledon, on the road at Accrington Stanley, and Gillingham, who host Swindon.
One of the division’s in-form sides are Newport County, who have rattled off four wins on the bounce and take on fellow top-seven contenders Notts County at Rodney Parade.
Tucked in just behind the pair are Morecambe, also on something of a roll with three victories in their last four games as they head to Tranmere.
Hollywood on the rocks
Sutton v Wrexham (19:45 GMT)
Wrexham are nicely placed, fifth in League Two and just points outside automatic promotion.
But their challenge has been rocked by three straight defeats, only scoring one goal.
So can they get back on track at lowly Sutton, who are seven points from safety and haven’t won since Boxing Day?
Stags aim for hat-trick
Mansfield v Harrogate (19:45 GMT)
Mansfield can close to within a point of the top of League Two tonight if they can claim a third win in a row.
They’re back at Field Mill after a 4-0 thumping of Forest Green on Saturday but might have harder work to get past Harrogate tonight, who start the game in seventh.
The Yorkshire side have won four of their last five to climb into the play-offs.
Game of the night
Stockport v Crewe (19:45 GMT)
What a cracker this could be at Edgeley Park with Stockport, top of League Two, hosting third-placed Crewe.
Stockport will hope to preserve their four-point lead at the top of League Two and arrive with three wins from their last four games.
Crewe start the night seven points behind their hosts and needed a second-half winner to squeeze past Crawley 1-0 on Saturday.
Elsewhere in League One...
#bbcefl
Bolton will look to rediscover the winning habit and maintain the pressure on second-placed Derby as they host their fellow Wanderers Wycombe tonight.
A point behind Derby with two games in hand, Ian Evatt's side have posted successive 1-1 draws - while the Chairboys head north on the back of two victories, most recently a 5-2 thrashing of Peterborough.
Fifth-placed Posh are inactive this evening after heavy rainfall wiped out their game against Port Vale, while Barnsley, in fifth, must do without head coach Neill Collins as he serves a touchline ban at Shrewsbury.
At the other end of the table, resurgent Reading seek their third win in a row – a feat the troubled Berkshire club have not achieved for 18 months – at fellow strugglers Fleetwood Town.
The Cod Army are floundering, just one place above rock-bottom Carlisle, whose game at Burton Albion was a late victim of the wet weather.
Will Addicks' 13 prove unlucky for Lincoln?
Charlton v Lincoln (19:45 GMT kick-off)
Nathan Jones will be desperate to avoid some unwanted history as he prepares to take charge of his first home game as Charlton manager as Lincoln visit The Valley.
The Addicks are only out of the League One relegation zone on goal difference following their 2-0 defeat at fellow strugglers Reading on Saturday – their 13th game without a win.
Defeat against the Imps tonight would make it five straight home defeats, a fate they have only suffered once before, in September 1990.
After coming from behind to beat Fleetwood on Saturday, Lincoln are 10th and though they have a good record in London, with 12 points from their last six visits to the capital, their record at Charlton is poor, with six defeats in their last eight.
With Port Vale's game off, they will have three games in hand on Jones' side by 22:00 GMT, can the Addicks put any distance between the teams before then?
Rams seeking to bounce back at SJP
Exeter v Derby (19:45 GMT kick-off)
A 410-mile round-trip on a filthy night like this isn't for everyone, but it might be just what Derby need,
Paul Warne's men were stung by a late equaliser at home to Shrewsbury on Saturday and, despite having a game in hand, are now six points adrift of leaders Portsmouth.
They won’t mind getting back into action, and back on their travels, just 75 hours later as they make the long trek to Devon.
The Rams have won six of their last eight road games and Championship leaders Leicester are the only side in the top four tiers to have picked up more than Derby’s 10 away wins this season.
The Grecians have never beaten County in the league but, if they can break that duck tonight, it will mean successive home wins for the first time in a year, and could mean a return to the top-half of League One.
Blues and Us face-off with vastly different priorities
Portsmouth v Cambridge (19:45 GMT kick-off)
After a dream Saturday, Portsmouth will be seeking to strengthen their grip at the top of League One against Cambridge this evening.
Paddy Lane’s winner at Carlisle, coupled with closest rivals Derby and Bolton dropping points, saw the Blues move six points clear at the summit and take promotion into their own hands.
They’ll be pretty confident the cushion is still at least six by bedtime as Pompey have won seven of their nine leagues matches against Cambridge at Fratton Park and 13 of the 19 fixtures they have contested overall.
The Us went down at home to lowly Cheltenham at the weekend and are now only four points above the drop zone.
If they can pull of an upset tonight it would surely be the biggest flip in the whole of pancake day.
Moore brought in to 'galvanise and energise' Port Vale
Darren Moore is back.
Just 15 days after losing his job at Huddersfield after only three wins in 23 games, the former West Brom, Sheffield Wednesday and Doncaster Rovers boss, has returned to management at Port Vale.
His brief is a, well, brief one - keep Vale in League One. It's a tough one too with the club sitting in the last relegation spot in 21st place, but only adrift of safety on goal difference (albeit a big one, 10 worse than Charlton's).
Vale's director of football David Flitcroft said Moore had been brought in to "come in and galvanise and energise the club" and that that he has "a plan of how he wants to lead the club from the very front."
The 49-year-old has time on his side to do that - at least on paper - having signed a five-and-a-half-year contract at Burslem.
He was due to watch from the stands tonight in the hope that his side use some of that new-manager bounce to upset promotion-chasing Peterborough - until heavy rain led the game to be called off - one of three of tonight's fixtures to have been postponed thus far.
He'll get the chance from the dugout in Saturday's trip to Cheltenham though.
League Two fixtures (all 19:45 GMT)
#bbcefl
League One fixtures (all 19:45 GMT)
#bbcefl
Welcome to another feast of full-on football
#bbcefl, WhatsApp 03301231826, text 81111 (UK only, standard rates apply)
The Champions League may be back but so is the EFL in all its glory tonight.
Along with the amuse-bouche of seven Championship games (all the action here), there is (on these pages at least) a slap-up feast of 21 matches across League One and League Two to get your juices jumping.
The fight for promotion and relegation cranks up another notch on the intense-o-meter and, after three postponements, we can throw in a typically filthy February night of weather into the mix too.
Don't forget, as ever, you can have your say via either X, WhatsApp or text (details above).
So forget that fancy European footy anthem, we've got 42 teams ready to turn it up to 11.