Stuart Smith and Jon Steele return to the pod for our latest J2 Special, with just under a quarter of the second tier season remaining.

We begin with a check of where the playoff contending and relegation battling 'lines' are, before looking at the situation at the bottom of the table, where FC Gifu have sunk like a stone on the back of nine straight defeats. Stuart searches for answers and speculates on the future of manager Takeshi Oki - how long can he hang on? (to 16:20). We then move on to the other battlers (to 21:20), before a long overdue check on J3 and the implications of awarding J2 (& J1) licences for the following year's campaign so late in the season (to 30:45).

We then move to the top of the table and current pacesetters Machida and Matsumoto, review the playoff prospects for teams currently in the top six, and discuss whether those on the outside looking in - Omiya & Tokushima - can unseat one or more of them.

We finish with a quick check of the Levain Cup quarter final results, and look ahead to Japan v Costa Rica on Tuesday night.

Follow my guests on twitter:

Jon - @J2KantoBites

Stuart - @sushi_football

Stuart's We Are Gifu blog