Championship / Richard Walker / 23 December 2009 /

Richard Walker tries to pick up where Andrew French left off by trawling through the Boxing Day Championship fixtures in search of some winners...

Pull-out quote suggestion: "get your Boxing Day pot moving early on by backing Cardiff City to have the better of the woeful Plymouth Argyle by half-time"

The good old Championship, eh? Twelve games, all sitting proudly there on Boxing Day waiting for us bettors to make fools of ourselves over!

Unlike the split-shift being operated by the Premier League immediately after Christmas, the Championship action is regimentally scheduled for first Saturday December 26, then a matching full programme on Monday December 28.

Okay, there are some differing kick-off times - to accommodate both live Sky matches etc., but it's allowed me to sift through the full dozen matches in bringing you what I consider to be the chief Boxing Day plays.

First things first, though, there's no such thing as a 'banker' in the Championship. Andrew French is in hot form this season, I confess, but even he guards against tipping complacency in a division where the unexpected happens as par for the course.

Like him, for me it's about following hot and cold streaks; hoping neither of which have expired. In this respect, get your Boxing Day pot moving early on by backing Cardiff City to have the better of the woeful Plymouth Argyle by half-time. At just shy of [2.0] to back for this 1pm kick-off, there's better value here than the mightily skinny [1.5] for a straight Bluebirds' success.

Playing mein hosts at the Cardiff City Stadium, Dave Jones' team have three consecutive wins to their name while Paul Mariner's Pilgrims have lost all of their last five. City are noted for bright starts; take them to make this another and have the game put to bed before most other Championship players have started their warm-ups.

Further north, red rose hosts white rose when an out-of-sorts Preston North End entertain Barnsley at Deepdale (3pm). The Tykes are flying under Mark Robins; on an undefeated run of seven matches. Alan Irvine's Lilywhites have registered just one success - that at home to the aforementioned Plymouth - in their last 10 games. I'm not sure Barnsley are certain victors, but I like the idea of laying North end to [2.26].

Doncaster Rovers are also flying the Yorkshire flag with distinction right now. Home or away, it all seems to come the same to them with two victories at the Keepmoat and two on the road making up their current four-game winning streak.

They travel to face Chris Coleman's Coventry City, a side always capable of under-whelming expectations. Their recent record tells of wins away to Plymouth and at home to Peterborough United - the bottom two sides. Don't less this apparent good form fool you; the Sky Blues went winless for 10 straight before these facile victories.

Rovers' successes at Crystal Palace and Derby County have a bit more meat about them and I fancy Sean O'Driscoll's men to play the better football and come away from the Ricoh with all three points. Back them to do so at around the [3.0] mark for this 3pm kick-off.

The day's late start comes at The Walkers Stadium where Leicester City play host to Sheffield United. Two former top-flight clubs here, jousting for post-Christmas supremacy as part of a wider bid to return to recent glories via what already looks like either second spot or the Play-Offs, given Newcastle United's apparent dominance.

These two are separated by just two points, poised in sixth and seventh in the table, so we can expect a close call. However I feel the Blades are in better form generally, and do not have the black mark of a porous defence which Nigel Pearson's men appear to be suffering with lately.

United are seven undefeated - four of those wins - and I can't see them getting rolled over by the Foxes, who needed to face the awful Sheffield Wednesday to get them back to winning ways last weekend. Lay Leicester to [2.48] - or perhaps even go a bit braver and back the [3.25] on offer for Kevin Blackwell's side to continue their concerted push for the top.

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