How Mansfield Town's League Two run-in compares to promotion rivals Carlisle United, Northampton Town, Stockport County, Salford City, Bradford City and Doncaster Rovers - picture gallery

All fans sit there working out how the upcoming fixtures compare to their rivals and trying to work out the various probabilities of how A should beat B. Phrases like ‘nailed on’ or ‘they won’t get anything from that’ will no doubt drop off the lips.

Is it better to play teams at the bottom if you’re a promotion-chasing team, to face teams around you in ‘six-pointers’ or is it better to face mid-table sides with ‘nothing to play for’?

Of course football isn’t played on paper as the famous saying goes with all the variables of pressure, increased desire and good old fashioned luck playing a key part.

So which of League Two’s promotion-chasing side’s have the theoretical best run-ins?

Here we try to work it out by creating a points total to make things clearer. Points are worked out based on the opposition’s league position, meaning a game against leaders Leyton Orient is worth one point, while a fixture with Rochdale is 24 points.

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