With spring well and truly in the air the end is in sight for those chasing a promotion dream in the Championship. But the mad month of March is going to be a decisive one ahead of the final reckoning, none more so than for Hull City, who travel to Blackpool on Friday in the first of nine matches in 29 days.
Ian Holloway’s Blackpool are seeking a immediate return to the Premier League and have set about their task in fine style, racking up 56 goals – the second highest in the division – to sit in fourth place, two points behind Cardiff in third and a further four away from West Ham in second (Blackpool 10/3 to earn promotion).
Twenty-three of those goals have come from strike duo Kevin and Matty Phillips. Evergreen former Sunderland striker Kevin Phillips is showing no signs of slowing down despite his 38 years and he leads the Tangerines’ goalscoring charts with 13.
Matt Phillips meanwhile has shown sparkling form since returning from a loan spell at League One side Sheffield United in the autumn, bagging hat-tricks against Barnsley on Boxing Day and Fleetwood in the FA Cup in January.
The pair are unsurprisingly joint 5/1 favourites to score first against Hull but if a decision needs to be made then the wise old head of Kevin Phillips could just be the one to fire Blackpool in front.
In fact goals are almost guaranteed at both ends whenever Blackpool play – Holloway’s men have netted in all but one of their 13 matches in 2012, scoring exactly three times on five of those occasions. However, they have kept just one clean sheet in 12 games.
They beat Bristol City 3-1 at Ashton Gate on Saturday to bounce back from a heavy 4-1 thrashing at home to leaders West Ham and a 2-0 loss at Everton in the FA Cup.
They have now lost just once in nine league games and prior to the West Ham defeat had won eight home games in a row.
They also have the upper hand in recent fixtures between these two sides, winning three of the last four meetings, including a 1-0 win at the KC Stadium in August.
But before you lump all of your money on Blackpool, it is worth noting that Nick Barmby’s Hull are unbeaten in their last six Championship matches as they launch a late bid for the play-offs.
The Tigers are currently in ninth place on 51 points but have at least one game in hand on all the sides above them and a win on the Fylde Coast will lift them into the play-off places.
In terms of goals they are at the opposite end of the scale to their opponents. The Tigers have conceded only three in their last 11 games, but have scored just seven in the same period.
If they are going to score then it will more than likely come from Matty Fryatt (7/1 to score first) or Robert Koren (8/1). The pair have scored 18 of the club’s 31 league goals this season.
It is that chronic lack of goals though that will see them struggle to take the points from Bloomfield Road, with the prediction being a 3-1 victory for the Seasiders priced at 16/1.
Tigers fans should not despair however. With eight further games in March their defensive solidity could yet bear fruit. And if they can somehow start scoring more freely, then their odds of 13/2 to go up may be worth a flutter.
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