League Two Tips: Tranmere can continue to shine

• Rovers to roll on up to top seven
• Salford need a goal scorer
• Mariners could struggle at home

Nevitt firing Rovers into play-off picture

Harrogate 3.39/4 v Tranmere 2.447/5; the draw 3.55/2

Finally, Harrogate might have found a bit of form and confidence with a win over Hartlepool, but hosting Tranmere will be a different matter.

The Sulphurites "found a way to win" after no victories in their previous nine in all competitions, reflected boss Simon Weaver. Many clubs would have jettisoned someone on such a losing streak, but he is lucky that his club has let him lead for 13 years. Five Prime Ministers have resigned since he took over. Who would have thought football was a more stable business than politics?

Harrogate's intensity was great in the first half, when Alex Pattison scored his fourth of the season and Jack Muldoon his first since in the opening day of the season. Opta say that Pattison has been involved in seven of their past 10 league goals (four goals, three assists). That lack of variety has been their undoing.

Securing only a second home win in League Two will have boosted confidence for the hosts, but their opponents have that in buckets after five straight victories. Without conceding. Micky Mellon says it is now important Rovers "stay grounded". As yet, they remain outside the top seven. Nothing, in one sense, has been achieved so far. There is still much work to do.

Elliott Nevitt will be pressing for a start again after scoring twice off the bench. Opta point out that he has scored three of Tranmere's four goals by substitutes, a figure which is itself a League Two high by a club this season. Josh Hawkes has contributed well from midfield. A young side is making fine progress. Another win here could well propel them into the echelons they desire.

Cook can continue to lift Bantams

Grimsby 2.56/4 v Bradford 3.185/40; the draw 3.613/5

Grimsby will be cock-ahoop about defeating Stockport - at big odds - last weekend. They have a very strong away record, whereas Stockport had a poor home one. However, the Mariners' home record is not so strong, while Bradford's away record is pretty good.

Paul Hurst's side have three home draws (and a win) and will not be easy to beat. They have scored in nine consecutive games (15 goals). Opta say they have not won back-to back home games in the EFL since February 2020. Gavan Holohan has scored in consecutive games from midfield to add to fellow midfielder Harry Clifton's five. They have also conceded eight times in those nine games, taking three clean sheets.

Their last home game brought a 3-0 victory over hapless Crawley, but they lost the two before that at Blundell Park, which will give Bradford boss Mark Hughes much confidence.

The Bantams will have only themselves to blame if they don't make enough of the former Manchester United striker's stewardship to gain promotion. Andy Cook is certainly doing his best, netting 10 times in the EFL, while three players are next best on two goals. Opta point out that Cook is one of three players to have scored 50% of his team's goals in League Two this season. He can add another here.

It is noticeable that the fifth-placed visitors have won their last four away games, with Cook scoring in all of them and three of them when the opposition also scored. Goals in t he first 15 minutes have set them on their way and we should expect similar attacking instincts as Tyreik Wright and Jake Young attempt to catch up with Cook's scoring return.

Salford need to find their sweet spot

Salford 2.89/5 v Stockport 2.915/8; the draw 3.412/5

Could Salford be the latest team to overcome the layers' deference to Stockport? The Hatters know they are in a false position in League Two, because everyone keeps telling them so. The result against Grimsby could have been different, had Miles Hippolyte levelled as they began the second half strongly. But his shot was saved.

Top scorer Paddy Madden had given Dave Challinor's side a route back into the game. However, just like Grimsby's away record proved too strong for them, so should Salford's at home. Opta point out that Stockport have had a League Two high five players sent off this season, which could be part of their problems.

The Ammies seem to be making a good strike on a sustained promotion push, even if they did lose ground to Bradford last Saturday. Boss Neil Wood was left frustrated by defeat, especially after Callum Hendry's shot hit the bar and bounced on the line and midfielder Ryan Watson fluffled a chance to convert a chance when played through. He felt his side were on top for long periods and pointed to their fitness levels late in the game, but he knows they need to turn that into chances.

These points are all well and good, but after Brandon Thomas-Asante's departure to West Bromwich Albion they still need a proper focal point up front, who will score goals regularly. Wood knows they lack that cutting edge.

This is the match to continue a pattern they seem to have developed. Salford have won every other game in their last 10.

Orient to be frustrated again at Carlisle

Carlisle 2.8415/8 v Leyton Orient 2.8415/8; the draw 3.412/5

While Carlisle are one of three sides in League Two not to have been beaten at home this season, Leyton Orient maintain the division's only unbeaten away record. In fact, the O's are the only team in the EFL not to be beaten on their travels this season.

That's something for keeper Lawrence Vigouroux, plus Omar Beckles, Tom James and Daniel Happe - the mainstays of his defence - to continue to fight for as they travel to one extremity of England. Richie Wellens' men might have slipped from top perch after consecutive draws and a defeat (strangely, to free-falling Newport) and he will be keen to get them back on track.

Wellens' track record in this division with Swindon says it all: he has the leadership skills to steer the Londoners into League One.

A couple of not so good results - one against a side with a strong home record (Doncaster) and another against a solid looking Northampton - will not concern him. A third draw in a row against another team with apparent promotion ambitions might not overly bother him either. But no doubt he would like Paul Smyth or Charlie Kelman to score.

Opta add that the visitors failed to score for the first time this season in their last game, against Northampton. Having won nine of their first 10 games, they will want to arrest an apparent "slide" of just two points from their past three games.

Paul Simpson's Carlisle, meanwhile, continue to not get carried away with a nine-match unbeaten run, in which they have rattled in six goals in their past two games. Swings and roundabouts inevitably mean they have faced one of the same opponents: Doncaster, upon whom they inflicted a 3-0 defeat on Saturday.

Well done Jack Stretton on his double, and Omari Patrick for one the week before, but the Orient should be an entirely different beast to sinking Rovers. In seven games, the hosts have conceded five at home, while the visitors have let in just three on their travels. A draw would satisfy both teams - for now.