How the teams have fared in League Two so far this season

Sky Bet League Two, like the rest of British football, is in a limbo state following the agreement to bring things to halt due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Here, the PA news agency takes a club-by-club look at how each of the fourth tier’s teams had been faring in the 2019-20 season.

Crewe

David Artell's Crewe are top of League Two (Nigel French/PA).
David Artell's Crewe are top of League Two (Nigel French/PA).

David Artell’s side, in the automatic promotion places for most of the campaign, moved into top spot with a 3-1 victory over Stevenage in their final match before the suspension came into effect. Beaten only once since January, they are above Swindon on goal difference having played a game more.

Swindon

The Robins slipped to second as they were defeated 2-0 at home by Forest Green – Richie Wellens’ team had first risen to the top in November amid a run of seven consecutive victories. Forward Eoin Doyle leads the division’s scoring charts with 25 goals.

Plymouth

Plymouth have consistently been part of the top seven since early January and sit a point behind Crewe and Swindon in third after recording 3-0 wins in each of their two most recent outings.

Exeter

Matt Taylor's Exeter are three points behind Plymouth in fourth (Nigel French/PA).
Matt Taylor's Exeter are three points behind Plymouth in fourth (Nigel French/PA).

Exeter topped the table early on in the season as they went unbeaten for their first 10 games, and after an 11-game sequence without defeat they were second in late January. Things have been more of a struggle since – four losses in their last nine games and no wins in their last four. They have three points fewer than Plymouth.

Cheltenham

Michael Duff’s fifth-placed team have been in and out of the top three this term. They entered the suspension on quite a roll having won five games on the bounce before being held 0-0 by Port Vale.

Colchester

Colchester have been very much a part of the play-offs picture since moving up to fourth on Boxing Day in the middle of a 16-match unbeaten run. John McGreal’s men have subsequently lost four out of seven and the gap between them and Cheltenham is six points.

Northampton

Keith Curle saw his Northampton team lose five times in seven prior to the suspension of the season (Mike Egerton/PA).
Keith Curle saw his Northampton team lose five times in seven prior to the suspension of the season (Mike Egerton/PA).

Another club in the play-off berths who were in something of a rut when the campaign was halted – the Cobblers had just slumped to a fifth defeat in seven fixtures.

Port Vale

Vale, on the other hand, were in form, enjoying their longest unbeaten run of the season. A goalless draw at Cheltenham extended it to eight matches and they are one point worse off than Northampton.

Bradford

Bradford sacked boss Gary Bowyer in February having gone from second place in November to eighth. Currently one spot lower following a mixed bag of a start to Stuart McCall’s third spell in charge.

Salford

Graham Alexander is managing Salford in their first season as an EFL club (Martin Rickett/PA).
Graham Alexander is managing Salford in their first season as an EFL club (Martin Rickett/PA).

The Ammies, managed by Graham Alexander, have so far been quite solidly around the middle of the table for the majority of what is their first season as an English Football League club.

Forest Green

Rovers led the division on November 2 but have registered only four wins since and tumbled down to 11th spot. The triumph at Swindon was their first victory in nine games.

Crawley

After Gabriele Cioffi left his post as Crawley boss in December with the club 17th and winless in six outings, successor John Yems has done a commendable job – 18 league matches into his reign, the team have lost just three times.

Grimsby

Ian Holloway has returned to management with Grimsby (Scott Heavey/PA).
Ian Holloway has returned to management with Grimsby (Scott Heavey/PA).

Grimsby have also benefited from bringing in a new boss – when Ian Holloway was appointed on New Year’s Eve to replace Michael Jolley, the Mariners were 21st and had not won since September. Victory was secured in each of the next two games and five more have followed, with the club rising to 13th.

Walsall

The Saddlers looked in trouble in November when a sixth successive loss left them 22nd, but boss Darrell Clarke has turned things around and they are currently unbeaten in five games.

Newport

Last season’s defeated play-off finalists started this term strongly but since late October they have dipped considerably, winning only five times.

Cambridge

Colin Calderwood left Cambridge in January (Daniel Hambury/PA).
Colin Calderwood left Cambridge in January (Daniel Hambury/PA).

Colin Calderwood’s stint as Cambridge boss ended with his departure in January following a seventh defeat in nine matches. Mark Bonner took caretaker charge and after 13 points from seven games, he was given the job on a permanent basis.

Leyton Orient

Orient went into the season with Ross Embleton as interim boss after the death of Justin Edinburgh, had Carl Fletcher take over in October for just 29 days, then put Embleton in charge again. He was appointed permanently in January and the 17th-placed O’s have lost only one of their last six matches.

Carlisle

In a season of struggle Carlisle are currently in their highest position since October, having lost only two of 11 games and won two of their last three.

Oldham

Laurent Banide lost his job as Latics boss in September after one win in nine games. Dino Maamria was his replacement and while victories have still been in pretty short supply, there has been some encouragement. Going down 3-0 at Crawley on March 7 was only a third loss in 12.

Scunthorpe

Paul Hurst's stint as Scunthorpe boss also ended soon after the turn of the year (Jonathan Brady/PA).
Paul Hurst's stint as Scunthorpe boss also ended soon after the turn of the year (Jonathan Brady/PA).

After becoming Scunthorpe boss over the summer, Paul Hurst made a nightmare start before a decent run took them from bottom of the table to 12th, where they sat on New Year’s Day. A five-match winless streak later Hurst departed – interim boss Russ Wilcox has overseen two wins in seven matches so far.

Mansfield

Mansfield, fourth last term under David Flitcroft, were 18th when boss John Dempster left in December and they currently find themselves three places lower, with Graham Coughlan guiding them to just four wins in his tenure so far. Two of those coming in the last three games has given reason for optimism.

Macclesfield

Troubled Macclesfield’s turbulent season has simply got worse and worse. Boss Sol Campbell left in August and successor Daryl McMahon resigned in January – that was after the club were hit with a six-point deduction for non-payment of wages and the failure to fulfil a fixture, which was later reduced to four. With Mark Kennedy now at the helm, the 22nd-placed Silkmen have not won in nine matches and lost seven of those.

Morecambe

Jim Bentley’s lengthy tenure as Morecambe boss came to an end in October with his departure for AFC Fylde. Bottom at that point, the Shrimps, now with Derek Adams in charge, are 10 points clear of basement boys Stevenage in a season where only one team will be relegated.

Stevenage

A truly miserable campaign for Boro. They have had three permanent managers, changing from Maamria to Graham Westley – via Mark Sampson’s spell as caretaker – and then Westley to Alex Revell, while they have been bottom of the pile almost the entire time since Christmas. They entered the suspension on an eight-game losing run.

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