Stockport County visit Colchester United at the JobServe Community Stadium on late Tuesday on the back of four consecutive wins in League Two.
Stockport have picked up 14 points from their last six games, and they face an U's side who lost their last match, and have collected six points from the last possible 18.
Stockport are top of the table after 41 games, of which they have won 23 and drawn 11, earning 80 points.
Colchester are 22 places behind County in 23rd, with nine wins and 11 draws putting them on 38 points.
With 82 goals in 41 games so far this season, the Hatters are the league's second-highest scorers with 2.0 goals per game. And they are conceding fewer than average, letting in 41 goals at a rate of 1.0 per game.
United, meanwhile, are below average scorers, with 1.3 goals per game, compared to a league average of 1.5. They have conceded 1.8 goals per game.
In Ben Hinchiffe, the visitors can rely on one of the league's safest pair of hands. He has kept 16 clean sheets in his 41 appearances this season, and no ‘keeper has prevented the opposition scoring more often in League Two.
In the U's' net, Owen Goodman has four clean sheets in 37 games. He has conceded a goal every 67 minutes, 40% more often than the 95 minutes between goals for Hinchiffe.
In the last three years, Colchester and Stockport have played each other on three occasions. Stockport won all of them.
Their last meeting was on November 18, when Stockport won 2-0 at home.
Colchester's last match was on Saturday, a 2-1 loss against Wrexham, with John Akinde getting the goal for the U's.
Stockport beat Sutton United 3-1 last time out, also on Saturday, with Paddy Madden on the scoresheet.
Tuesday's match will be refereed by Scott Oldham, who has taken charge of 11 League Two games so far this season, issuing no red cards and booking 37 players. He has awarded three penalties.
The last Colchester game Oldham refereed was a 3-2 away win against Grimsby Town on October 24. He is yet to oversee a match featuring Stockport this season.
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Colchester United v Stockport County
League Two | JobServe Community Stadium
Tuesday, 9 April 2024 @ 7.45pm
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