Football League Preview: Forest host Leicester, Derby visit Wednesday

Wednesday’s East Midlands derby between Nottingham Forest and Leicester City could have a major bearing on the Championship title race.

Burnley’s failure to beat Bournemouth at the weekend means Leicester have the chance to go 10 points clear at the top, with 15 games left to play.

Nigel Pearson’s men are unbeaten in 11 league matches, but will be wary as they visit their local rivals having lost the reverse fixture 2-0 in November.

Forest, who will be keen to bounce back after being dumped of the FA Cup at Sheffield United on Sunday, could climb to within three points of the automatic promotion positions with victory.

Derby County – another East Midlands outfit – will be keen spectators on Wednesday, but will hope to have kept up the pressure on the top two by beating Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in England’s second tier, Wigan Athletic host Barnsley and Watford travel to Yeovil Town.

In League One, Leyton Orient could climb back into the automatic promotion places with victory over Stevenage on Tuesday.

That said, Russell Slade’s charges are without a win in their last four, and will have played two games more than leading pair Brentford and Wolves by next weekend.

Postponements due to weather conditions have made the League One table difficult to judge in recent weeks, but Bradford City will be in no doubt as to the direction they are heading unless they manage to stop the rot soon.

The Valley Parade outfit currently sit 13th, with one win from their last 20 league matches, and entertain Port Vale in midweek.

Elsewhere, Coventry City host Carlisle United, Crawley Town welcome Tranmere Rovers, Preston North End head to MK Dons and Sheffield United – fresh from reaching the FA Cup quarter-finals – are at Gillingham.

Oxford United will go second in League Two if they avoid defeat at Newport County on Tuesday, while Rochdale could climb into the automatic promotion spots with victory over Burton Albion.

The fourth tier’s remaining fixtures see Southend United and Morecambe looking to break themselves out of bad runs against Hartlepool United and Exeter City respectively, while Accrington Stanley host Bury in a huge fixture at the bottom end of the division.