Tranmere Rovers will travel to South Wales this weekend as they face Newport County in the EFL League Two.

Tranmere currently sit third in the table with the comfort of knowing that holding their position will see them gain automatic promotion.

Newport are further down the table in eighth, but within one win of a playoff place.

Both sides’ form has been dwindling of late.

Tranmere are without a win in three since their 3-0 drubbing of Swindon Town, having lost to both Walsall and Hartlepool before drawing 1-1 with Port Vale last weekend.

Newport’s winless run extends back four games, although they have unashamedly lost to the league’s top two (Forest Green Rovers and Northampton Town) in this time.

Whilst Newport are winless in four, they had won four in a row prior to the Forest Green loss.

With this in mind, it is also true of the Welsh side that they have suffered defeat just twice in eight matches, and against the league’s two strongest outfits.

Tranmere’s current position might seem comfortable in their pursuit of automatic promotion, but they face the reality that Exeter City and Mansfield Town’s games in hand could potentially see them drop as low as fifth.

A win would be important for both sides on Saturday, but Tranmere will be particularly desperate to steady a campaign that is in growing danger of derailing.

One factor in the recent struggles of the Super White Army has been the injuries to Jay Spearing and Paul Glatzel.

Spearing, a former Liverpool player and Tranmere’s engine, went off injured in the victory over Stevenage earlier this month.

Glatzel, a current Liverpool player on loan at Prenton Park, has been missing since the win against Swindon.

Since losing the second of these men in Glatzel, Tranmere have not tasted victory and have scored only one goal in three.

It is unconfirmed as of yet whether they will be fit to return on Saturday, but should they be available they have the capacity to spark the revival that Tranmere’s form needs.

After the Newport fixture, Tranmere will travel away to second-placed Northampton.

If they can make that trip off the back of a win, a second successive victory could well put them back on track as one of the favourites for automatic promotion.

Two losses, however, sets up the potential for further fixtures against Newport this season, with a reasonable chance that both sides could meet in the playoffs.

(Featured image available at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rodney_Parade_Newport_2020.jpg)

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