Doncaster Rovers visit Colchester United at the JobServe Community Stadium on late Tuesday on the back of nine consecutive wins in League Two.
It means Doncaster have picked up the maximum 27 points from their last nine games, and they face an U's side who lost their last match, and have collected 12 points from the last possible 27.
Colchester are 22nd in the table after 44 games, of which they have won 11 and drawn 11, earning 44 points.
Doncaster are 14 places ahead of United in eighth, with 20 wins and seven draws putting them on 67 points.
In the last 10 years, Colchester and Doncaster have played each other on nine occasions. Colchester won two of them, Doncaster six, and they drew once.
On average, the U's scored 1.0 goal and the Rovers 1.3 in those matches.
Their last meeting was on November 28, when Doncaster won 3-1 at home.
With 57 goals in 44 games so far this season, the U's are scoring at below the league average rate with 1.3 goals per game. And they are conceding more than average, letting in 75 goals at a rate of 1.7 per game.
Rovers, meanwhile, are average scorers, with 1.5 goals per game. They have also conceded 1.5 goals per game.
In Joe Ironside, the Rovers have one of the league's sharpest shooters so far this season. He has notched 18 goals in 43 appearances, to sit seventh in the scoring charts.
His goal rate of one every 193 minutes is slightly quicker than that of Joseph Taylor, the home side's top scorer with a goal every 178 minutes, and a total of 11 goals in 25 games.
Colchester's last match was on Saturday, a 1-0 loss against Notts County.
Doncaster beat Barrow 4-2 last time out, also on Saturday, with Ironside (two), Hakeem Adelakun and Harrison Biggins on the scoresheet.
Tuesday's match will be refereed by Paul Howard, who has taken charge of 15 League Two games so far this season, issuing one red card and booking 49 players. He has awarded one penalty.
The last Colchester game Howard refereed was a 2-1 home loss to Harrogate Town on October 21. He is yet to oversee a match featuring Doncaster this season.
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Colchester United v Doncaster Rovers
League Two | JobServe Community Stadium
Tuesday, 23 April 2024 @ 7.45pm
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