Wealdstone host Barnet on Saturday afternoon in a London derby between two sides with ambitions of finishing in the National League playoffs.

The visitors are well-placed to achieve their aim and have a shot at promotion, sitting in fifth after their 1-1 draw with title challengers Notts County last time out.

For Wealdstone, a dip in form has seen their playoff hopes dwindle, but they continue to overachieve and are not out of the picture just yet.

You can watch all the action live on BT Sport from 2.45pm on BT Sport 3.

Can Wealdstone defy the odds to reach the playoffs?

Manager Stuart Maynard deserves huge credit for his side’s performances this season.

Wealdstone, despite operating with one of the smallest budgets in the division, have been more than competitive and remain in contention for a top seven finish.

Maynard’s part-time side play a possession-based game and are easy on the eye, but they have been effective too.

There will be concerns that the exertions of a long season have taken their toll, though, after back-to-back defeats in the National League: first a 4-0 loss to promotion-chasing Chesterfield and then, more worryingly, a 4-1 humbling against relegation-threatened Scunthorpe.

If Wealdstone do begin to fall away from the playoff places, there will be few complaints; no one expected such an impressive campaign and the prospect of promotion to League Two is, in truth, unrealistic.

Clubs like Wrexham and Notts County are in another stratosphere financially, and even outfits like Boreham Wood and Eastleigh are far better equipped to compete at the top of the division.

But Wealdstone won’t have given up yet. A win against Barnet on Saturday could reignite their push if results elsewhere are favourable.

Regardless of what happens this weekend and beyond, though, there is no question that Wealdstone have made huge strides forward this season.

Grosvenor Vale, Wealdstone

Are Barnet dark horses for promotion?

The Bees have improved significantly after two seasons at the wrong end of the division and now find themselves in an enviable position with nine games left to play.

Manager Dean Brennan has recruited smartly and his team play an energetic, attacking style of play that can be too much to handle for most sides in the division when it works.

Conversely, Barnet have conceded a lot of goals this season (61 in 37 games) and that defensive frailty could prove costly in the end.

But there have been signs of improvement in that regard of late: a rare clean sheet in a 1-0 win at Southend earlier this month suggested Brennan is working on shoring up his side at the back.

Barnet also battled to a 1-1 draw with Notts County last weekend, proving again that they are a match for anyone in the right circumstances.

With key players like Ben Wynter and Danny Collinge returning to fitness, the squad should be strong enough to fight on two fronts with an FA Trophy semi-final against Gateshead on the horizon.

Finishing in the top three to get a home semi-final in the playoffs might be too much of an ask now given Chesterfield’s return to form, but a win against Wealdstone would put Barnet in a comfortable finish in the top seven.

Can Kabamba return to form?

Much of Barnet’s rise into the playoff places this season has been down to the exceptional form of striker Nicke Kabamba, signed from Northampton last summer.

The 30-year-old got off to a flying start to his career at the Hive, scoring ten goals in his first 14 appearances.

A barren spell followed before another burst of goal scoring around the turn of year. And since January it has been difficult again for the former Portsmouth and Hartlepool man, with just two goals to his name in 12 games.

Kabamba is the third top scorer in the National League with 18 goals, some way behind Wrexham’s Paul Mullin (31) and Notts County’s Macaulay Langstaff (37).

His quality, then, is not in doubt, but Barnet will be desperate for him to find his best form again and hit another purple patch heading into a pivotal point in the season.

Kabamba scored from the bench in a 2-1 win over Yeovil last week, so the signs of an imminent improvement are there.

And he often gets his goals in bundles, with four braces and one hat-trick to his name this season. If he’s on it against a Wealdstone side lacking in confidence, Kabamba could have a fruitful afternoon.