League Two Tips: Time for Wombles to win

• Londoners need points to stay up

• Stevenage could blunt Stags

• Harrogate having their moment

Dons have chance for rare win

AFC Wimbledon 2.68/5 v Swindon 3.02/1; the draw 3.412/5

Have AFC Wimbledon finally got a game they could win, to put to bed any lingering fears of relegation?

A midweek break should make them fresher for this fixture - Ethan Chislett's hamstring injury incurred against Harrogate will have had time to heal. Josh Davison might be back before the end of the season. Goals from both have been sorely missed.

Home fans are getting restless after a poor season - and one win in 16 games - but 7,500 supporters (from both sides) and rising have bought tickets.

Swindon, before Tuesday's fine win over Bradford, had four draws to show from nine games. Their last two away games have resulted in defeats. Charlie Austin scored four against bottom club Rochdale a few weeks ago, but Jody Morris's men have not been on song of late.

Johnnie Jackson's side include Ali Al-Hamadi who has already won fans' approval after a terrific start to his Dons career. The Iraqi international striker, 21, has nine goals since signing from Wycombe in January but has only once been on the winning side after scoring. Yet he has given the south Londoners the lead eight times.

This really could go either way. Opta point out the Wombles have fewer points (13) than any other League Two side in 2023, while adding that Swindon have never won at AFC Wimbledon and the visitors have won once in nine away games.

However, AFC Wimbledon can't afford to drop any more points in the unlikely event that Crawley and Hartlepool rustle up enough points to close the gap.

Mansfield need all the points but might be held

Mansfield 2.77/4 v Stevenage 3.185/40; the draw 3.55/2

Nigel Clough said a couple of weeks ago that Mansfield must avoid any "surprise" results if they were to realise their ambitions of reaching the playoffs - and gain a shot at promotion. That was after drawing at Rochdale - which one could put down as a surprise result, not beating the bottom club.

Drawing at Grimsby a week later didn't exactly enhance their chances, but such is the nature of League Two that a point isn't a disaster. It's now a straight fight between places eight and four for the playoff berths, so in a sense both sides were big winners from the midweek results, even if Salford managed to sneak above the Stags on goal difference. Clough's men are now seven points clear of Barrow in ninth - and beaten just once in eight at home, say Opta (but drawing four).

Finding a really consistent goalscorer has been the Stags' problem. Will Swan clearly hasn't been consistent enough to earn a first team place although he is currently top scorer with nine, one ahead of Lucas Akins.

The rest of his team are well behind in the scoring stakes, no more than five for anyone, which the likes of Jordan Bowery need to address - and quickly.

Stevenage are almost promoted. Their away form has been their undoing, with a League Two high 11 draws now, their most ever in a league campaign say Opta.

Just a few of them turned into wins could have seen Steve Evans side challenge for the title all through the season not just until Christmas. Their excellent FA Cup run clearly took its toll.

Nobody will want to let their manager down. Luke Norris and Jordan Roberts have shown through the season they are capable of scoring and defender Carl Piergianni has pitched in with seven. Mansfield will battle, but the visitors are capable of a draw. The odds say as much.

Injuries could catch up with Cobblers

Northampton 1.84/5 v Harrogate 5.49/2; the draw 3.613/5

Will yet another season-ending injury - to no less than the captain Jon Guthrie - finally tip Northampton into the category of being vulnerable? Not if a 2-1 win at Sutton on Tuesday is anything to go by. They have managed in recent weeks with 11 first team players out, which just shows how deep their squad must be.

However, it feels like the end of a game of Jenga: the more pieces you pull out the more likely the wall will fall. It could, finally, be worth opposing the Cobblers, by laying them, not least because Harrogate have steamed into form by being unbeaten in the last six games.

In fact the Sulphurites have lost just once in 10 games, drawing six though. Over the last 10 games, Jon Brady's hosts laud it above all others with 21 points (Harrogate have 15, placing them 11th in a table over that timeframe) while over six games Northampton are fifth with 11 and their visitors are seventh with 10. A real contraction.

It is hard to imagine, though, that lowly Harrogate can upset the odds and reward backers at 5.49/2. (They are not the biggest odds of the weekend though: Gillinham are 6.611/2, Crewe are 9.08/1 to win at Leyton Orient and Rochdale are 12.011/1 to win at Stockport.)

As Opta point out, Harrogate have only actually won once in seven away games. Alex Pattison, Luke Armstrong and others might have scored 11 goals in six games between them - including drawing at leaders Leyton Orient 2-2 - but they will have to go some to outscore Northampton, who Opta add have won four of their last five at Sixfield.

A draw is perfectly possible and to cover the eventuality that Brady's bunch have a nervous breakdown as they try to get over the promotion line, laying the hosts might be the answer.

Sam Hoskins, Mitch Pinnock and Louis Appere have enough in the tank to ensure that if the defence has a bit of a wobble without their leader they can take the chances to level. With three games left, the second placed Cobblers have a five point cushion to the dreaded fourth they fell into on the final day last season. They are almost promoted. But Harrogate have found a second wind.

Pressure-free Gills could make life hard

Bradford 1.784/5 Gillingham 6.611/2; the draw 3.613/5

Laying Bradford at odds-on should also be considered, given that their home form is less than outstanding and Gillingham seem determined to continue to be the joker in the pack. Having signed several new faces in January, the Kent club have been flying.

Having drawn at home with Stockport, who started the season slowly but are now going like a train, and then defeated champions in waiting Leyton Orient on Tuesday, it is as if Neil Harris' men are sticking their noses up at supposedly superior teams. A bit like the old Crazy Gang at Wimbledon. 'Nobody expects of us, so let's show em!'

There's no pressure on them of course, which allows the Gills to play with a freedom which seems to elude the Bantams at Valley Parade.

Bradford do, though, have a +10 goal difference at home, thanks mainly to Andy Cook's 24 league goals, and have won three of the last four there. Boss Mark Hughes might find the visitors a stiffer opposition than the league table suggests - and one tougher than Sutton (who had to get a result to stay in touch with the playoffs), Grimsby, Colchester and Hartlepool (with whom they drew).

The visitors have scored in each of their last seven games (seven different scorers for their nine goals).

But while players such as striker Tom Nichols, who signed in January, might feel secure for next season, plenty of others will be wondering if they will be retained for what seems like a certain promotion push.

Oli Hawkins came in the transfer window as a striker not a defender - to his surprise - but how many will retain their places? Gillingham, Opta point out, have lost three straight away games and only won twice on the road. But they have drawn seven and their tails are up. It could be worth laying the hosts.