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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Huddersfield Town

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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