EFL 15/4 Acca | Gab Sutton

Birmingham extended their unbeaten league run to 14 with Tuesday’s 4-0 thumping of bottom side Cambridge, moving seven points clear of Wycombe at the top and 11 clear of Wrexham in third with a game in hand on both.

Blues were dominant against Cambridge, managing their biggest margin of victory since thumping Reading 6-1 in 2014 despite Jay Stansfield missing the second of his two penalties. The first succeeded by a Liam Bennett own goal, then strikes from Kieran Dowell and Luke Harris either side of the interval.

Paik Seung-Ho’s return was key for Chris Davies’ side, who were without Marc Leonard and Taylor Gardner-Hickman and might have had to name a more makeshift midfield, but as it was Paik and Iwata reassumed their dominance on proceedings – with the latter rested for the second half.

By far the best midfield pairing in the division, Paik and Iwata will be out to show their class against Charlton and avenge a 1-0 loss at the Valley back in October.

Although still in the relatively comfortable position of 15th, Mansfield fans are starting to get edgy after six straight league defeats, four of which coming against bottom eight opposition.

The Stags are crying out for returns for defender Deji Oshilaja, left-back Frazer Blake-Tracy and striker Will Evans – veteran front-man Lee Gregory would be in that category too, but he’s out for the season.

As such, the timing of the fixture looks inviting for Blackpool, who are unbeaten in their last nine league games, despite having gone to St Andrews at the beginning of that sequence – they’re the only team to stop Blues scoring on their own turf, and are one of just three to deny them three points.

Steve Bruce has the Tangerines well-drilled, operating with a suitable ‘mid-block’ line of engagement – not too cavalier but not too deep either – with impressive contributions from defender Oli Casey and midfielder Albie Morgan.

This season, Bradford City have produced their best team since the League One play-off finalists of 2016-17.

Graham Alexander has built a side with bags of energy at Valley Parade, as a front-three of Tommy Leigh, Bobby Pointon and Calum Kavanagh presses with vigour, ably supported by Alex Pattison, who scored the winner in Tuesday’s 1-0 victory over Accrington Stanley.

In fact, Pattison’s return from injury has been key to the Bantams winning six of their last seven league games, becoming League Two’s form team in 2025.

Newport County are in form themselves, winning four on the spin, but performance levels suggest those results were necessary to keep them away from trouble, as opposed to the start of a late Play-Off charge.

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