Carlisle United will be beginning to dream about promotion after continuing their winning run by beating Rochdale 1-0 on Saturday.
John Gordon, the 19-year-old on loan from Crystal Palace, opened the scoring after just eight minutes following Kristian Dennis’ pass through the middle which split open the Dale defence, allowing the loanee to pick his spot and comfortably beat goalkeeper Jack Eastwood.
This proved to be enough for Paul Simpson’s side to secure the victory and remain on the edge of a successful season.
The Blues, who currently sit fourth in League Two, now have five wins in six and are in touching distance of the automatic promotion places with only one point separating them from third placed Northampton Town.
Barrow, however, will not necessarily be coming into the fixture as underdogs as they themselves will be looking to get back into the play-off places.
Barrow were beaten 2-0 by Northampton Town over the weekend which saw them fall into ninth and ended their short lived three game unbeaten streak.
A win for Barrow will see them potentially move back into playoff contention if results go their way and close the gap between them and Carlisle to just five points.
The sides last met earlier in the season in the Football League Trophy with the Bluebirds overcoming Carlisle 2-0 at Holker Street.
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Team news
Carlisle
Forward Tobi Sho-Silva missed the Rochdale victory on Saturday after he rolled an ankle in training on Friday and it’s unclear whether he will be fit to feature.
After making zero changes for Rochdale from the previous 11 who beat Hartlepool, boss, Simpson may be looking to rotate the squad to keep legs fresh and avoid any injury scares.
Carlisle have not been beaten by Barrow at Brunton Park since the Bluebirds returned to the football league in 2020.
Barrow
Despite struggling for form at home, having not won a game at Holker Street since November 19 and losing their last four, Barrow's away form has been slightly better. They are without defeat in the last three with a notable 3-2 win at playoff rivals Mansfield Town on January 7.
Barrow have made three signings this January with Rory Feely, Elliot Newby and Jake Young all joining the Bluebirds.
Joe Grayson, Mark Ellis, and Benni Smales-Braithwaite have all re-joined the side after spending time away on loan.
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Predicted lineups
Carlisle: Holy, Senior, Feeney, Huntington, Mellish, Armer, Moxon, Guy, Gibson, Gordon, Dennis.
Barrow: Farman, Warren, Ray, Canavan, Brough, Neal, White, Whitfield, Gotts, Waters, Gordon.
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Key players
19-year-old John-Kymani Gordon will certainly be a player that Carlisle fans may enjoy for the remainder of the season if he continues to be a productive member of United’s front two.
He’s scored twice since joining on a six-month loan from Premier League side Crystal Palace where he’d just signed a long-term contract extension in December 2022 after scoring 11 times in his first eight games of the season, achieving September’s Premier League Two Player of the Month award in the process.
Gordon offers versatility alongside the Blues’ Kristian Dennis, who is League Two’s leading goal scorer with 16, with his pace and ability to go past players. He’s proven he can score goals and he’s genuinely exciting to watch.
28-year-old Josh Gordon is the leading goal scorer so far for Barrow this season with 11 goals. He’s not been as clinical as his positional counterpart at Carlisle United (Dennis), but his goals have nonetheless been crucial in what has been so far a successful season for Barrow.
However, Gordan has been struggling to find the net recently having only scored once in Barrows last five games with his last coming in that away victory over Mansfield but that doesn’t negate his achievements over the entire season.
Barrow will be looking to secure their first win against their Cumbrian neighbours at Brunton Park since promotion to League Two and Gordon will without a doubt be seeing this as a massive opportunity to get back on the scoresheet and help Barrow in fulfilling this task.
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Match details
Where is the game being played?
The match will take place at Brunton Park, Carlisle.
What time is kick-off?
Kick-off is at 19:45 GMT on Tuesday, January 31.
How can I watch?
While the game is not available to watch live in the UK and Ireland, overseas supporters can watch the game via either clubs' iFollow service.
Supporters in the UK can use iFollow to listen to and watch the match live.