Preview: Exeter City vs. Harrogate Town - prediction, team news, lineups

Exeter City will be looking to continue their promotion charge from League Two when they welcome Harrogate Town to St James' Park on Tuesday evening.

The hosts continued their excellent recent form with a narrow win at the weekend, whilst the visitors played out a 3-3 thriller.

Match preview

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Kieran Phillips netted his first Exeter goal in the 1-0 victory at Bradford City on Saturday, in what was a thoroughly deserved win following a dominant display.

The narrow triumph was their fifth in their last six outings, which has catapulted the Grecians into fourth spot ahead of Tuesday's action, with just two points now between themselves and Northampton Town in the automatic promotion spots following their 0-0 draw at Port Vale at the weekend.

Matthew Taylor's side have their outstanding defensive record to thank for their recent spell in particular, having netted only eight goals during that same six-game spell, but also conceding just a single goal in the same period.

The excellent run of form has come at a vital time for Exeter, having lost five and drawn one of their previous six across all competitions, so it has been a remarkable turnaround from Tuesday's hosts.

With a huge amount of confidence and form behind them, City will be expected to record another three points in the week, which would see them climb into the top three due to this being their game in hand on Northampton.

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Meanwhile, Harrogate head to Exeter in the week on the back of a disappointing draw at relegation-threatened Rochdale, despite leading 1-0 and 3-1 at different stages.

Alex Pattison had given Town the early lead inside three minutes, before he netted from the penalty spot later in the half to provide his side with the lead for a second time after they had been pegged back.

Jack Diamond extended their lead to 3-1 immediately after half time to seemingly put Simon Weaver's men in complete control of the encounter, but their defensive woes continued as they conceded three for the second game running.

As a result, the Sulphurites remain in 13th place, with their early-season promotion form being well in the past now, which has left them 10 points off the playoff places.

Following their poor run of just two wins in their last 11 League Two matches, as well as the disappointment at the weekend, Harrogate head to St James' Park with the odds against them.

Team News

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Exeter have no fresh injury concerns to worry about ahead of Tuesday, with Taylor likely to maintain a consistent starting 11 once more.

Cheick Diabate, Sam Stubbs and Pierce Sweeney have formed a stubborn back three, so they will remain unchanged in front of goalkeeper Cameron Dawson.

Timothee Dieng should once again provide support to Jevani Brown and Phillips, with the latter set to keep his place after scoring the match winner at the weekend.

As for the visitors, striker Calum Kavanagh should be back in the squad having missed out again at the weekend due to a quad strain, despite being expected to return.

Rory McArdle and Lewis Richards remain sidelined through groin injuries, whilst long-term absentees Ryan Fallowfield and Simon Power also remain unavailable.

Exeter City possible starting lineup:
Dawson; Sweeney, Stubbs, Diabate; Key, Kite, Collins, Caprice; Dieng; Brown, Phillips

Harrogate Town possible starting lineup:
Oxley; Thomson, Legge, Burrell, Page; Pattison, Falkingham, Kerry; Diarra, Armstrong, Diamond

We say: Exeter City 2-1 Harrogate Town

The two sides head into this clash on very different runs of form, so as a result, we are going with the form here and predicting an Exeter win.

Taylor's side are flying and are an extremely solid unit at the moment, whilst the visitors continue to head in the wrong direction following their initial strong start to the campaign.

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