Preview: Accrington Stanley vs. Walsall - prediction, team news, lineups

The home side had to settle for a share of the spoils in their last outing, while the visitors claimed a third consecutive victory across all competitions.

Match preview

Accrington Stanley played out a thrilling 3-3 stalemate against Crewe Alexandra when the teams faced off at the Alexandra Stadium on Saturday.

John Coleman's men went 1-0 and 2-1 down but managed to restore parity on either occasion through Jack Nolan and Ben Woods before taking the lead through Josh Woods after which Elliott Nevitt struck a late leveller

As a result, The 'Owd Reds have dropped down to ninth in the League Two table, one point adrift of the last playoff place, albeit having played one game more.

Next up is the challenge of an opposing outfit who have won the most recent three editions of this fixture after losing the opening two meetings prior to that.

Having recently ended a three-game winless streak on home turf, Saturday's hosts now go in search of consecutive home wins for the first time since October.

Walsall Town just about saw off the threat of Tranmere Rovers thanks to a narrow 1-0 triumph in Saturday's encounter at the Bescot Stadium.

Off the back of a relatively drab first half, Mat Sadler's men edged ahead moments before the midway point of the second half through Jamille Matt and that was enough to get the job done.

With 27 points picked up from 21 league matches so far, the Saddlers sit 15th in the standings, just three points shy of a place in the top half.

Currently on a run of no clean sheets in 14 of their last 15 matches on the road, Saturday's visitors will need to keep things tight at the back to stand any chance of coming away with maximum points.

Accrington Stanley League Two form:

L

W

L

L

D

D

Accrington Stanley form (all competitions):

L

L

L

D

W

D

Walsall League Two form:

L

L

D

L

W

W

Walsall form (all competitions):

D

L

D

W

W

W

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Team News

Accrington's Ben Woods finally opened his account at the 14th time of asking last time out and will be looking to pick up where he left off.

Rosaire Longelo-Mbule's involvement this weekend currently hangs in the balance as he was forced off less than half an hour into the hosts' last outing.

Walsall's Jamille Matt came off the bench to good effect last time out and the Jamaican could be rewarded with a place in the starting lineup here.

Midfielder Dylan Thomas has missed five consecutive games for the visitors through a knee problem he picked up in the second week of November.

Accrington Stanley possible starting lineup:

Walsh; Shipley, Gubbins, Hills, Lowe; Woods, Conneely; Nolan, Pritchard, Henderson; Woods

Walsall possible starting lineup:

Smith; Daniels, Okagbue, Farquharson; Knowles, McEntee Comley, Stirk, Gordon; Hutchman, Draper

We say: Accrington Stanley 1-1 Walsall

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