League Two Tips: Carlisle can take point at Bradford

• Barrow can dislodge Salford

• Gillingham flush with glut of recruits

• Orient should find a way not to lose

Bantams to be held at home

Bradford 2.56/4 v Carlisle 3.211/5; the draw 3.55/2

The trouble with the January transfer window is that everything can change between publication and kick-off! On a fixture card that is the reverse of Boxing Day less than a month ago, that makes tips selections particularly tricky. It would be very easy to tip the same results as four weeks ago.

I might have predicted a draw between these two then, but it would not surprise me on current form if Carlisle repeated their festive victory over Mark Hughes' men. However, the Bantams deserve a bit of benefit of the doubt at home, so they could finish level.

Carlisle have three wins in four to put themselves in touching distance of the top three - remarkable seeing as Leyton Orient, Stevenage and Northampton seem to have made the automatic promotion places their own.

Two of Carlisle's recent wins, though, have come at home. Paul Simpson seems delighted with their progress, in particular 14-goal Kristian Dennis's return to goalscoring form with three in as many games. He began the season tremendously well with seven in 10 games.

At least others are contributing now, including Crystal Palace's on loan striker John-Kymani Gordon on his debut. Dennis set him up to score against Newport.

Seventh-placed Bradford continue to tweak their squad in the hope of finding the right formula for success, but improvement under their former Wales manager has not been blistering.

They have signed experienced striker Matt Derbyshire on an 18-month deal and defender Tolaji Bola on loan from Rotherham. In their favour here is that their last two wins were both at home, 1-0 over Harrogate and 3-2 against Salford.

Abo Eisa scoring twice in the past three games is a bonus. Can Andy Cook add to his 13 goals this season? Carlisle can pick up a draw, especially as Opta point out that Bradford have picked up just seven points in seven games.

Barrow to beat inconsistent Ammies

Barrow 2.56/4 v Salford 3.412/5; the draw 3.55/2

Somehow Salford are top of the six-game form table. My astonishment comes because they don't seem like a team which consistently gets results. Indeed, their 13-point haul in that period ends with back-to-back wins for only the second time this season. The first was back in August. Three in a row? Not happened this season yet.

Boss Neil Wood just can't seem to find a regular winning formula, even if Conor McAleny has conjured four goals in three games, with Ethan Gabraith notching also taking two in four.

Maybe ex-Fleetwood forward Callum Morton will bring them joy and the promotion they crave over the next 2.5 years. Wood says they will battle all the way for a top three finish.

The Ammies inconsistencies still place them fifth in a squashed up league, with a joint high seven away wins. So whatever progress Peter Wild believes Barrow have made will be tested by trying to better the Boxing Day draw between the two.

A gritty draw against the leaders Leyton Orient continued Barrow's resurgence after their eye watering 5-0 loss at Stevenage in December. If Billy Waters can continue to find the net, now alongside Bradford loanee Jake Young, Barrow have a chance to win here, especially if Jordan Stevens can continue his progress having broken into the first team and scoring from midfield.

Opta point out that Salford have won both their away games between the two in the EFL and that Barrow have never beaten them in this league. A lack of consistency from Salford this season could see the consistency in those statistics fall.

Gillingham can turn the tables

Colchester 2.56/4 v Gillingham 3.613/5; the draw 3.185/40

Boxing Day was a great day for this column, when Colchester seemed a great price for a rare away win. Now the roles are reversed, after Neil Harris has captured seven signings so far in January. Gillingham are even spending money, recruiting players for undisclosed fees.

Mansfield boss Nigel Clough said the Stags couldn't compete for deals for George Lapslie and Oli Hawkins - and he thought his side were decent payers! Ethan Coleman (Leyton Orient, on loan at Bromley) and Jayden Clarke (Dulwich) have most recently spent time in non-league, where Gillingham's board clearly don't want to be. Hence the spend. It worked for Stevenage last January, who then had another purge in the summer and built a promotion-attacking squad.

Harris managed Millwall for a long time (four years the last time) and therefore has the desire to manage at a higher level. Maybe that longevity and ambition has kept him toiling away in this role with a struggling side.

A 2-0 win over fellow strugglers Hartlepool could prove a launchpad. Opta say it was the first time in 26 games they have scored more than once. Striker Tom Nichols scored and had a cheeky dig at former employers Crawley. "No height restrictions in this side," he posted on social media - a reference to the fact the chairman of his former club said they sold him because they had too many short forwards.

Colchester haven't been slack in the signings department with Matt Jay from Exeter, while defender Junior Tchamadeu seems to have set himself scoring targets. Matt Bloomfield will feel boosted by four wins in five games, starting at Priestfield.

They have shown some freedom in the past two away games, defeating Rochdale and Harrogate. Will Gillingham now prove stiffer opposition than both of those? I think so. Opta strike one of those lovely notes of impending doom: Colchester are the only team with a 100 per cent record in 2023, but haven't won four in a row since March 2017.

Top two to battle out draw

Stevenage 2.26/5 v Leyton Orient 4.03/1; the draw 3.412/5

Contrast Gillingham with the team of 1995-96, who had let in just 10 goals in 26 games, stress Opta, who say that Leyton Orient's 13 goals is the fewest in a start to a League Two campaign since. More pertinent, perhaps, is that three of the past four games between these two have been goalless (including on Boxing Day) and the other was a 2-2 draw last March.

Until I read that, I was teetering on the side of Steve Evans' side winning. Just. Maybe 1-0. However, it could be that these two have room to size each other up and battle out a draw, given that Northampton are six points off their pace in third and Carlisle another four points behind. There will be plenty more chances to win and Boro have the small matter of a trip to Stoke in the FA Cup on Sunday week.

New signings Jake Forester-Caskey (midfield, Charlton) and defender Jonathan Tomkinson (loan, Norwich) will want to impress, while Carl Piergianni will happily take another goal from the back if required, having scored three games in a row. Jamie Reid will consider himself more likely!

Leyton Orient might do well to keep level, having scored once in five games. Richie Wellens is convinced Rotherham loanee Jamie McCart will "hit the ground running", but he rather needs Paul Smyth or Theo Archibald to do the same in front of goal.

The visitors are the only side to have conceded less than 10 goals away in League Two, while their hosts have scored the highest number (24). All things considered, Stevenage might struggle to squeeze past a side who need to find a way not to lose just a second game in 10.