Crawley will be aiming to put some distance between themselves and the League Two relegation zone with a win as they are set to host promotion-chasing Bradford on Good Friday.
The home side currently find themselves in 22nd place in the league and are currently just two points above Hartlepool who are directly beneath them. In what is a very congested bottom half of League Two, only four points are separating Hartlepool in 23rd to Harrogate in 20th.
The Reds had a very productive month in March as they picked up seven points and managed to keep distance between themselves and Hartlepool despite an upturn in their form. Crawley recorded vital victories over relegation rivals Harrogate and Rochdale.
Last time out, Crawley were comfortably defeated by promotion-chasing Mansfield who found themselves four goals up within 70 minutes. The Reds managed to get one back thanks to Mazeed Ogungbo but the game finished 4-1 to the Stags.
This game is somewhat of a reality call to Crawley that they are still well and truly embroiled in a relegation scrap. With just seven games left in their campaign, every point will be pivotal in their bid for remaining in the Football League.
Bradford are currently occupying 6th place in the League Two table and have a three-point gap between themselves and Mansfield who are currently in 8th place. In what is a very congested top half of the table, there are only six points between Bradford and Northampton in 2nd place so automatic promotion is not out of the picture just yet for the Bantams.
The Bantams are undefeated in their last eight league games, however their recent form has been plagued with draws that have stunted progression up the table. In recent weeks, Bradford have recorded draws against Walsall, Newport and Hartlepool, all of who are in the bottom half of the table.
Last time out, Bradford were able to get back to winning ways as they came out on top of a five-goal thriller against Grimsby. The Bantams had to come from behind as they found themselves 2-1 down at the break. Goals from Jamie Walker and an 81st-minute winner from Andy Cook provided Bradford with a much-needed victory.
Crawley have dominated the recent history of this fixture and are undefeated in the last six meetings, having won four and drawn two. This fixture is often a tight affair, with all thirteen encounters being decided by two goals or less.
Nothing could separate these sides when they met in the reverse fixture earlier on in the campaign. Bradford went in front after 55 minutes when Tyreik Wright played Dion Pereira through and the on-loan Luton winger dinked his shot over Balcombe. Crawley were level six minutes later thanks to James Tilley's well-struck free-kick and the game ended 1-1.
Unsurprisingly, given the respective league positions of these two sides, it is Bradford who are favoured at the bookies and are currently priced @ 11/10, whilst a home win for Crawley is priced @ 9/4 and a draw is @ 12/5.
We are backing Andy Cook to score first @ 4/1 because he has been in impressive goalscoring form recently. Cook has netted five goals in Bradford’s last six league outings and will be looking to add to his goal tally of 26 for the season.