The best attack takes on the best defence when Cheltenham Town and Forest Green Rovers collide in an eagerly anticipated top-of-the-table League Two clash at the Jonny-Rocks Stadium tomorrow.

Cheltenham are top of the division’s goalscoring charts with 26 – the same number as leaders Crewe and fifth-placed Swindon Town – but Cheltenham’s goals per game ratio is slightly better because they have played fewer games than the other two.

Forest Green, meanwhile, have the meanest defence in the division having conceded just nine in their opening 15 games.

Mind you, Cheltenham are pretty strong at the back too with only 12 goals against them in 14 games and their goal difference of 14 is the best in the division.

Forest Green’s goal difference is nine – the joint second best in the division with Crewe – and their fans will make the short trip north from Nailsworth tomorrow further encouraged by the knowledge that they have not lost to Cheltenham in four previous Football League outings.

The games have been pretty close, however, with three draws and a narrow win for Forest Green and there is certainly all to play for at what is sure to be a packed stadium.

Adding extra spice to the occasion – if it needed any! – is the fact that both teams could be top of League Two come 5pm tomorrow if results go their way.

Both third-placed Cheltenham and fourth-placed Forest Green trail Crewe by two points – Crewe host 11th-placed Port Vale tomorrow – while second-placed Exeter, who are a point behind Crewe, travel to Bradford City.

Bradford are one of a cluster of clubs making an early impression this season – they are just a point adrift of Cheltenham and Forest Green – in what is proving to be a very tight division with just three points separating the top seven clubs, a top seven that is completed by Newport.

Both Cheltenham and Forest Green go into tomorrow’s game on the back of some good recent news.

Cheltenham’s came in the form of Chris Hussey signing a new deal that will see him continue to wear the club’s red and white until the summer of 2021.

The 30-year-old left wing-back arrived at the club in May 2018 on an initial two-year deal and has made 47 League Two appearances for the club as well as an additional six cup appearances.

His new deal follows the news that captain Ben Tozer secured his future at the club last week, joining Sean Long and George Lloyd in committing long-term to manager Michael Duff’s set-up.

On Hussey signing his new deal Duff said: “In my opinion he is the best left back in the league. We know what he gives us. He’s a good defender but he helps us with his quality and delivery going forward. All you have to do is look at his number of assists already from dead balls and open play. 

“He has a positive influence in the dressing room and is a good professional. He’s an excellent trainer and trains every day like it’s his last. He works on his deficiencies and does plenty of extras.”

Hussey’s new deal will see him continue to bring the Football League experience he has earned with spells at the likes of Coventry City, Sheffield United and Bury having started his career with AFC Wimbledon.

Forest Green, meanwhile, signed free agent and former player Elliott Frear until January last month.

The 29-year-old signed a contract at The New Lawn which saw him return to the club he left back in 2017 for Scottish Premier League side Motherwell.

The Exeter-born player, who had been training with his hometown side while being without a club, had offers in Scotland in the summer, but decided that he wanted to move closer to home with his family.

Frear said: “There is no hiding that the most I have enjoyed my football, both on and off the pitch, is here at Forest Green and hopefully I can enjoy it again.

“Hopefully I can repay the fans again and show them how much I have improved since I have been up in Scotland.

“When I went up to Scotland, it was a great opportunity for me and my family and I was really proud of what I achieved up there, it was just a case as a family now, we wanted to be down south and that was a decision we took in the summer.”

Frear started his career with Exeter City, having joined them at the age of 11, making his professional debut in the FA Cup as a substitute against Walsall.

He made 12 appearances, with loan spells at Tiverton Town and Salisbury City, joining the latter permanently in 2013, where he made 47 appearances and netted six times.

Frear headed for The New Lawn in the summer of 2014, scoring his first goal for the club in a 2-2 away draw with Macclesfield Town.

He went on to make 115 appearances for Rovers, scoring 13 times, including his memorable strike against AFC Wimbledon in the FA Cup in 2015 to secure a 2-1 win over the then League Two side.

Frear was part of the side that made it to Wembley in the National League play-off final against Grimsby, before being signed by Motherwell on a two-and-a-half year deal in January 2017, going on to make more than 60 appearances and scoring eight times.