Gabriel Sutton's EFL Weekend Picks

Cheltenham come into Saturday off the back of a 3-1 defeat at home to Charlton on Tuesday, with Darrell Clarke’s side now winless in four.

The result leaves them four points off safety with a game in hand on Shrewsbury, and coming into two tough road trips, the second at Barnsley on Saturday, under pressure to add to their points tally.

The Robins can’t be accused of lacking in endeavour, and they did manage to create a few half-chances in midweek, both in the latter stages of the first half and in the earlier part of the second, which was their best spell.

5’10” striker George Lloyd brings an admirable work ethic and created a few openings through his ability to hover in the air when getting on the end of crosses and diagonals, but he can’t do it all on his own.

There was a huge difference between Cheltenham and Charlton in terms of the speed and precision of their passing, and there’s no reason why that wouldn’t also be the case at Play-Off chasing Oxford.

The U’s are winless in four themselves, but they controlled much of the play in Saturday’s 2-1 loss at leaders Portsmouth and will feel if they can replicate that performance level against weaker opposition, they’ll take the points.

Leicester’s ascent to the Premier League might not be as comfortable as it once looked.

A three-game losing streak cut the Foxes’ gap to third from 14 points to five, so Tuesday’s 1-0 victory at Sunderland was crucial, especially with Leeds and Ipswich winning too, as Enzo Maresca’s side look to put their late-winter wobble behind them.

The East Midlanders have Callum Doyle back after injury ruled the left-back out between October and December, and limited his minutes in the New Year, as the Man City loanee slotted in nicely.

Doyle played a clever ball down the flank for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to set up Jamie Vardy for a close-range effort that was saved, before the veteran striker later nodded home a rebound following a corner.

Vardy has only started 11 games this season, with Patson Daka, Kelechi Iheanacho and Tom Cannon all at times vying with him for one spot up top, but the 37-year-old has still managed 11 goals across those starts and 14 substitute appearances.

While he’s been a peripheral figure on paper, his character and big-game experience could be invaluable at the business end of the campaign, and it’s arguably the same for Conor Coady.

Has Coady been phenomenal this season? Not exactly, he’s only started six games and is typically behind Wout Faes and Jannik Vestergaard in the pecking order.

However, the knowhow he brings, the impact he has on the dressing room, the way he influences the dynamic around the training ground is crucial at the high-stakes points of the campaign, and he’s there to do a job when called upon – that’s clean sheets now in each of the last three games he’s started.

Back-to-back wins would go a long way to securing Leicester’s place in the Premier League next season, as they travel to a Hull side who have drawn their last three and are having difficulty finding that clinical edge.

Emile Acquah will be brimming with confidence after a stunning curler for Barrow in their 2-0 victory over MK Dons.

The former Southend striker used his physicality to hold off Max Ehmer, his intelligence to outwit Timothee Dieng, and his technique to beat Glenn Morris all ends up.

After bagging his first league goal since mid-October, Acquah could find some momentum to enter a purple patch, akin to August’s run of three goals in four.

The 23-year-old faces a Colchester side who are ropey defensively, with just one clean sheet to their name in their last 19 league games; centre-back Connor Hall, for instance, has been unable to maintain his form from the second half of last season.

Acquah, therefore, will feel he can get on the scoresheet and help Barrow secure back-to-back wins to get their bid for the top seven back on track.

Both teams have scored in 24 (69%) of Barnsley’s 35 league matches this season and, most pertinently, 16 of their last 17.

The Reds are dangerous going forward, now Luca Connell has returned at the base of midfield to free up the likes of goalscorer Adam Phillips and creator Herbie Kane, while wing-backs Jordan Williams and Nicky Cadden stay high and wide to supply a front-two of Devante Cole and John McAtee.

The setup can leave Tarn open, though, and while they’re not as vulnerable as they were when Connell wasn’t available to skip across the pitch and snuff things out, they can still be got at in transitions.

Plus, Neill Collins’ side have a back-three of Maël de Gevigney, Donovan Pines and Josh Earl, none of whom started the season at the club, which isn’t ideal for continuity - they don’t have the same synergy that perhaps, Phillips, Connell and Kane do having played together successfully last season.

As such, Lincoln will feel they can create chances, seeing as last weekend’s goalless draw with Stevenage had far more to do with their opponent's ability to break the game up than their own unwillingness to attack.

We could still see flashes of what the Imps wanted to do against such well-organised opposition, and the way Barnsley play will invite Michael Skubala’s side to get creative forward Ben House threading through speedy strike-partner Joe Taylor in transition.

Under Nigel Adkins, Tranmere have been arguably League Two’s best transitional side.

That might sound strange for a team languishing in 18th, but they’re actually fifth in the form table since Adkins got the permanent job in early November.

What’s held Rovers back from mounting a Play-Off push has been, firstly, the lack of quality outside their best XI, which isn’t ideal for rotating and keeping things fresh, and secondly their struggles to create or convert against more defensively minded opponents.

When the Wirralians have faced the better teams in League Two, and/or the more possession-based ones, they’ve been fantastic.

Performances against Forest Green, Gillingham, Notts County and Stockport at home, and Mansfield, Salford and Grimsby away, have been their best of Adkins’ reign, and they’ve tended to have inferior possession in those games.

As such, while hosts Gillingham have picked up lately with 22 points from their previous 13 league games, and are serious threat in the Play-Off scramble, they can be got at, perhaps especially on their own turf where they’ll be expected to dictate.

Tranmere will feel they can force turnovers, and hit them with the physicality of Luke Norris, the running power of Harvey Saunders and the quality of Rob Apter, who has been one of League Two’s top performers this season.