Bristol Rovers are involved in a battle royal to get out of League Two with an automatic promotion finish not out of the realms of possibility whilst a play-off spot is close.
The Gas have not lost a game at home since the turn of the New Year and that has brought some optimism around the Memorial Stadium with sold out crowds and a positive atmosphere around the West Country.
With five home games left against Colchester United, Bradford City, Salford City, Forest Green Rovers and Scunthorpe United, Rovers will need to be at their top of their game and claim as close to maximum points as possible. If they can do that then they’ll stand themselves a good chance of getting promotion at the first time of asking after their relegation last year.
For any manager, the key to success is building up good home form and then being hard to beat on the road, with the hosts always expected to perform better given it is their natural environment.
Some teams in the fourth level of English football though have struggled in front of their home fans this year whilst performing well on the road, whilst other teams have just been steady and recorded what is needed to preserve their status in the division.
Despite playing in front of some of the bigger crowds, home sides can sometimes not perform in front of their own fan base, despite ranking highly for attendances. You can take a look at where Bristol Rovers, Bradford City and Northampton fans rank amongst League Two’s home crowds and see how they compare with how the teams have actually performed in games.
Take a look at how the League Two table would look if only home results had counted this season.
5. 20th: Bradford City
Despite boasting the best average attendance in the league, Valley Parade is not a place where the Bantams do well. They’ve got 20 points from 18 home matches and they are winless in their last five. | Getty Images Photo: George Wood/Getty Images
6. 19th: Crawley Town
John Yem’s Crawley have one of the lowest crowds in the division and last week less than 1,500 fans came to watch them. They’ve got 21 points from 18 games this season. | Getty Images Photo: Pete Norton/Getty Images
7. 18th: Harrogate Town
Wetherby Road has held League Two football for a year now after Harrogate’s promotion meant a brief spell away for ground improvements. In almost its first full season, Harrogate have accumulated 21 points from 17 games. | Getty Images Photo: Pete Norton/Getty Images
8. 17th: Rochdale
A lot of the teams in the bottom half of the home form table seem to be clubs from the north and Rochdale are another. They’ve got 21 points from 16 matches in front of their own fans. | Getty Images Photo: Pete Norton/Getty Images