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Lions heading into Tigers’ lair

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The Championship is a notoriously difficult league to predict and the phrase ‘anyone can beat anyone’ goes almost hand in hand with England’s second tier but there are always a few games that stick out, on paper at least, and we fancy home wins for Hull City and Middlesbrough this weekend.

Hull impressed with a 3-1 win over 3/1 promotion shots Bolton Wanderers at the KC Stadium prior to the international break and Steve Bruce’s men should be too strong for the visiting Millwall on Saturday. Bruce secured a few impressive signings over the summer, including Ahmed Elmohamady and Abdoulaye Faye, and could well be worth considering at 11/2 to win promotion themselves.

Millwall did manage to pick up a home win over Middlesbrough in their last outing and should not be underestimated. The Lions appear to be a more attacking side than they were last season and will take the game to Hull, but Bruce has a well organised outfit that should be able to cope with the pressure. The Tigers came back from a goal down to beat Bolton and, even if Millwall do grab an early lead, Hull are strong enough to come back and get something from the game.

Hull are evens to take maximum points and this appears to be the best bet in this particular fixture, the draw can be backed at 12/ 5 and the visitors are 11/4 to secure the win.

Middlesbrough remain unbeaten at home in the Championship (albeit after just two home games) and Tony Mowbray’s men host an Ipswich side who conceded six on their last away day. The concern with Boro is they seem to lack an out and out goal scorer, which may be something Mowbray will seek to address in the loan transfer window.

Boro’s home form could well be key to their season and they will expect to beat teams like Ipswich and the 11/10 on offer for a home win looks great value, the draw is priced at 23/10 and the Tractor Boys are 5/2 to come away with the points.

Peterborough and Burnley both seem set to struggle this season after disappointing starts.Indeed, the Posh are yet to pick up a point to date and the Clarets impressive win over Bolton on opening day has been followed by three defeats to leave them in the bottom three.

Burnley will fancy their chances against Peterborough, who are yet to score on the road, but this has the potential to be a tight and cagey affair after the uninspiring starts both sides have made. Burnley are 8/11 to seal the win, while the visitors are 7/2 to do the same but the 11/4 on offer for the draw could well be worth some consideration as these two early candidates for relegation go head to head on Saturday.

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Terriers to get their teeth into Dons

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The Football League play-offs continue on Saturday with two huge matches as in League One Huddersfield Town look to secure a positive result at MK Dons, while in League Two Southend United aim to do the same at Crewe Alexandra.

Simon Grayson takes his Terriers to Stadium MK in a 12.30pm kick-off on Saturday for a game which will bring together two sides who were separated by just one place and one point in the final league table.

The fact Huddersfield took forth spot means they will have home advantage in the second leg, so the emphasis is on picking up a result to take back to West Yorkshire on Tuesday.

Huddersfield are no strangers to the end-of-season lottery, having won promotion via this route in 1995 and 2004 respectively, while this is their third successive attempt to reach the Championship.

They travel south in good form against MK Dons having not lost to them in seven matches stretching back to August 2008, with six wins and two draws from their 12 League One encounters.

Grayson, who has pedigree in the play-offs having been a winner as a player with Leicester in 1994 and 1996, and then took Blackpool up to the Championship in 2007, will have the League One’s prolific top scorer Jordan Rhodes (15/2 – 2 Or More Match Goalscorer) back in the side after he was rested for the final two matches.

Lee Novak or Kallum Higginbotham will miss out, while fellow striker Alan Lee is back in contention after shaking off a knee injury.

MK Dons boss Karl Robinson is looking to lead the club to the Championship for the first time since the change from Wimbledon back in 2004.

His side were looking set to go into the play-offs on a real high, but a final-day defeat against Walsall scuppered their hopes of making it five successive wins.

The Dons are also in their second successive play-off bid and have lost all three they have been involved in so far at the semi-final stage, so the omens are not good.

Defender Gary MacKenzie could be back following an illness, while Alan Smith (10/1 – First Goalscorer), who is on loan from Newcastle, is set to retain his place behind a front two of Dean Bowditch and Charlie MacDonald.

Nothing could divide the sides in the two regular season fixtures as they both ended 1-1, but Huddersfield may have the slight edge and take a slender lead back home for the second leg.

Prediction: Huddersfield Away 90 Minutes @ 23/10.

Value Bet: Huddersfield To Win 2-1 Correct Score @ 11/1.

League Two

Southend United must pick themselves up at Gresty Road in the 5.30pm kick-off after narrowly missing out on automatic promotion last Saturday when Crawley Town snatched third place by just a point.

The Shrimpers finished three places and 11 points better off than rivals Crewe, while their final day 2-0 win against Macclesfield at Roots Hall meant they ended the campaign on a great run of four wins, a draw and five successive clean sheets.

They also have history on their side with 13 promotions via the play-offs which makes them the most successful side to be promoted via this route.

Boss Paul Sturrock has a near fully-fit squad to choose from, so will head north optimistic that his players can take their good run of form into the match.

Crewe will be no pushovers, though, as they ended the regular season on the back of a 16-match unbeaten run – seven wins and nine draws – which was enough to snatch the seventh and final play-off spot.

Ironically Alex’s last defeat was against Saturday’s opponent’s Southend as the versatile Bilel Mohsni (10/1 – 2 or More Match Goalscorer) scored the only goal at Roots Hall on February 18 to add to the brace he scored in the Shrimpers’ 3-1 win at Gresty Road in October.

Boss Steve Davis‘ hopes of gaining revenge for being doubled in the season will not be helped if skipper Dave Artell does not shake off a foot injury suffered in training.

But Ashley Westwood has not suffered any setbacks to his foot injury and is in line to feature as Crewe aim to improve on just one successful promotion in five previous attempts in the play-offs.

However, looking at the statistics, Southend were unfortunate to go up automatically and coupled with their excellent run of form, they should have too much for Crewe and come out on top in this one.

Prediction: Southend Away 90 Minutes @ 7/4.

Value Bet: Southend To Win 2-0 Correct Score @ 12/1.

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Terriers to get teeth into O’s

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Huddersfield Town travel to Leyton Orient looking to use their game in hand to keep their automatic promotion hopes alive and Brentford’s play-off aspirations could be bolstered by a victory over Oldham at Griffin Park in Tuesday’s League One games (totesport – League One).

Terriers chief Simon Grayson was left disappointed after the side slipped to the first defeat of his tenure on Saturday as play-off chasing Carlisle ran out 2-1 winners at Brunton Park.

As a result it is imperative that the west Yorkshiremen take advantage of their game in hand on the sides above them to seal a win at the Matchroom Stadium which would take them to within five points of Sheffield United in the second automatic promotion place (Huddersfield 7/4 Promotion).

Grayson has no fresh injury worries ahead of the trip to London as Calum Woods missed Saturday’s game at Carlisle with a slight groin niggle, while Gary Naysmith, Oscar Gobern and Damien Johnson are also still sidelined.

And, despite Orient enjoying a better head-to-head record on their own patch, Town have won three and drawn one of their last four games in the Capital so will travel in confident mood.

Russell Slade’s O’s need points for different reasons as they bid to extend the five-point gap between themselves and the bottom four relegation places following a run of just two wins in their last 10 games.

Defender Scott Cuthbert will miss out on Tuesday night after he injured his hamstring during their defeat against League One leaders Charlton on Saturday, but loan left back Ryan Dickson should return in his place after serving a suspension over the weekend.

Leon McSweeney missed Saturday’s game with a calf injury, whereas winger Jamal Campbell-Ryce was also out with an ankle injury and it is unlikely either will return to face the Terriers.

The O’s scored twice in the final five minutes as they stormed back from two-down to secure a point in the corresponding fixture earlier in the season and will look to get something from the game.

But with Huddersfield knowing that time is running out if they are going to reach the Championship without going through the lottery of the play-offs, we fancy them to nick the points in this one.

Prediction: Away Win 90 Minutes @ 11/10
Value Bet: Huddersfield To Win 2-1 Correct Score @ 8/1

Staying in London and Brentford can keep alive their slim play-off hopes with a fourth successive win against an Oldham side that is close to guaranteeing its League One status.

Uwe Rosler’s Bees looked set for mid-table obscurity after three successive defeats in early March.

But they have turned the form book on its head in the second half of the month with vital wins against Rochdale, Preston and MK Dons to move to within eight points of the top-six.

Their hopes of reaching the play-offs are not great even if they win all of their remaining games, but Rosler will no doubt want the players to keep their run going in order to try and hit the ground running next season.

Paul Dickov’s Oldham will arrive at Griffin Park on the back of an inconsistent month in which they started with a shock 3-2 win at Sheffield United, before losing four on the bounce.

The Latics recovered with wins against Hartlepool and Bournemouth, before slipping to successive 1-0 defeats at the hands of Leyton Orient and Notts County.

Boosted by the return of skipper Dean Furman from a lengthy lay-off at Notts County on Saturday, Dickov will be looking for a response from his players against the Bees as his side can move 10 points clear of the drop zone with a win.

Brentford ran out 2-0 winners at Boundary Park in September, but the omens are with Oldham down in London.

The Latics won this fixture 3-1 last season and picked up draws in their three previous trips to Griffin Park in the league, while Brentford’s last win on home soil came in an FA Cup replay back in December 2005.

Despite the visitors’ decent record at Brentford, we feel the Bees will be too strong and should notch up a fourth straight win.

Prediction: Home Win 90 Minutes @ 5/6
Value Bet: Draw/Brentford HT/FT @ 10/3

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Canaries to fly into contention

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After witnessing their Championship promotion rivals falter around them this weekend, Norwich City have the opportunity to pull clear of the pack in the second automatic promotion place (6/4 Promotion) behind runaway leaders QPR when they entertain Bristol City on Monday evening at Carrow Road.

Neil Warnock’s R’s (1/6 Outright) moved 10 points clear at the top of the Championship thanks to Saturday’s 2-1 win against Crystal Palace, but the rest of the top-seven sides failed to win, which gives Paul Lambert’s men a huge incentive to go three points clear of the pack with just nine games remaining.

Lambert is set to name an unchanged side following last Tuesday’s impressive 3-2 win at Leicester for the game as Norwich chase a first league double over the Robins in 21 years.

However, while Norwich have enjoyed success on the road in recent games, they seem to be struggling to secure points on home soil having been held to 1-1 draws by struggling Doncaster and bottom club Preston in their last two outings at Carrow Road.

Despite those slips the Canaries are still unbeaten in six games and have only lost once in 15 to show they have what it takes to stay the course for a place in the Premier League.

Bristol City will not be a pushover for Norwich as they have virtually banished any relegation fears with a four-match winning run lifting them towards mid-table.

Keith Millen’s side have not won five on the bounce in more than two years, but are more than capable of taking maximum points in East Anglia given that they have won on their last two trips to Carrow Road.

The Robins will hope to be boosted by the return of loan defender Steven Caulker following a hip problem, while Liam Fontaine is battling to shake off an ankle injury.

Nicky Maynard (7/1 First Goalscorer) could be the danger man for Bristol City as he has found the net three times in as many games since returning from a long-term injury problem and he could be one to watch when the action gets underway.

Prediction: Draw @ 13/5
Value Bet: Maynard 1st Goal 2-2 Draw @ 66/1

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Pompey staring into the abyss

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Bet on the ChampionshipPortsmouth’s game against Hull City on Saturday will go ahead despite the South Coast side being on the brink of liquidation (Hull 13/10, draw 23/10, Portsmouth 21/10 – Match Betting).

On Friday evening, Pompey released a statement saying that they faced going out of business unless they could strike a deal with major creditor and former owner Alexandre Gaydamak. This was described by the football club as “impossible” due to an upfront cash payment that was being demanded by Gaydamak. This was described by Portsmouth as a “ransom payment” as it would secure Pompey’s exit from administration.

The news will come as a bitter blow to Portsmouth fans at a time when things were looking up for the club. Results on the pitch have improved after a poor start to the campaign whilst the club admits that “extensive efforts” had been made to try and resolve the situation behind the scenes.

Explaining the position, Portsmouth say these efforts have “now been undermined by the self-interested actions of one individual. Mr Gaydamak has provided confirmation several times that terms were agreed. However, he has continually changed his position in an attempt to exploit the goodwill of the other parties to the transaction.

“By now doing this he has shown complete disregard for the supporters, the club and the City of Portsmouth, who had granted him freedom of the city in 2008.

“His earlier comments when the club went into administration about doing everything possible to save the club’s future do not appear to reflect his current actions.”

Despite the grim news, things took another dramatic twist when Portsmouth’s administrator, Andrew Andronikou, admitted he was still hopeful that the club could exit administration and that talks over the weekend could reach a “satisfactory conclusion”.

He expressed his disappointment that Portsmouth had released a statement so quickly and stressed that “within the next 24 hours we can get the parties around the table and we can renegotiate to everyone’s satisfaction.”

He went on to admit: “We are as close to coming out of administration as going into
liquidation. It is a fine balance and I want to say as little as possible at the moment.”

If Portsmouth does cease to exist, it will have significant ramifications for British football, particularly this season’s Championship. However, there have been so many twists and turns in this saga, it is difficult to predict what will happen next.

Uncertainty reigns this evening but the game at the KC Stadium could well be the last in Pompey’s illustrious history.

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Rio to get stuck into Toffees

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Rio Ferdinand has been declared fit to return to the Manchester United first-team (11/5 – Premiership Outright) after he came through 45 minutes of the reserve-team’s 2-1 win against Oldham in the Manchester Senior Cup tie at Stalybridge on Wednesday.

The 31-year-old central defender has not played since picking up a serious knee ligament injury following a collision with Emile Heskey ahead of England’s World Cup opener against the United States in South Africa in early June.

However, despite Sir Alex Ferguson initially ruling Ferdinand out until the end of September, his excellent progress saw him pitched in to face the Latics for a second string run-out.

United reserve-team boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was very pleased with Ferdinand’s display and sees no reason why he cannot come into contention to face Everton in the Premier League on September 11.

“Rio is always the same player,” said Solskjaer. “It is a while since he has played but he was still calm.

“He has get through an important 45 minutes, straight after two very hard training sessions yesterday and the day before so we are delighted with him.”

Solskjaer also played down any fears of a setback when Ferdinand went off at half time, claiming it was always planned he would not play the full match after near three months out of action.

“Today was about distances and getting tighter to the ball. Now he is available for selection again,” he added.

Ferguson will be overjoyed to have Ferdinand back into contention for selection as United get their Champions League campaign (United 8/1 – Outright) underway against Glasgow Rangers on September 14.

England boss Fabio Capello will no doubt also be keeping a close eye on the player’s developments given that he is already set to miss their opening two Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria (England 3/10, Bulgaria 8/1, Draw 10/3 – 90 Minutes) and Switzerland this week.

However if Ferdinand works his way back to full fitness he will be an important part of the Italian’s plans to try and ensure the Three Lions qualify (England 1/12 – To Qualify) for the tournament in two years’ time.

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