Championship / Andrew French / 23 March 2012 /

After their midweek blip at Peterborough, Reading are a good price to return to winning ways says Andrew French, whilst Andy Thorn's Coventry could start a survival run by beating Portsmouth.

Coventry v Portsmouth, KO: Saturday 15:00, Match Odds: Coventry [2.42], Portsmouth [3.3], The Draw [3.5]

Time to roll out 'six-pointer' as the phrase of choice when describing this. With only a few weeks of the season left, you have to think that at least one of these two will be dropping into League One.

Pompey suddenly plucked a fine 4-1 win against Birmingham out of nowhere in midweek, but before that result gets you all giddy, bear in mind that Brum had a man sent off just before Pompey went 2-1 up. Still a good victory, but there were mitigating circumstances. This is away from home as well, and Michael Appleton's side don't travel well. They have lost four of their last five on the road and scored just one goal in that quintet of fixtures.

Coventry's gutsy midweek draw at Cardiff made it four consecutive stalemates for the Sky Blues. Not losing games is fine, but they need to get back to winning ways now, and they have shown they are capable of doing that at the Ricoh. They have only lost one of their last eight at home, and have won four of those. They have beaten the sides in 18th, 20th and 21st on home soil, and as well as this game with Pompey, they still have home fixtures with those currently in 17th, 19th and 23rd to come. This could be the game that starts a Coventry run to survival.

Back Coventry @ [2.42]

Barnsley v Peterborough, KO: Saturday 15:00, Match Odds: Barnsley [2.56], Peterborough [2.94], The Draw [3.6]

With Barnsley horribly out of form and Peterborough not having won away from home since Boxing Day, this is a game where the winner is hard to call. But I think we have very strong evidence to expect goals regardless of who wins. First up, Barnsley have not had a goalless home game in the league this season, while Posh have not been involved in a 0-0 at all this term.

Barnsley have found the net in 17 of their 19 home games (they only failed to do so against Southampton and Reading), and have scored two or more in nine of them - but they have also conceded two or more eight times. Posh - who games this season have averaged 3.24 goals each - have managed just one away clean sheet and have conceded two or more in nine of 19 away games. If we can't look for goals in this one, when can we?

Back Over 2.5 Goals @ [1.72]

Reading v Blackpool, KO: Saturday 15:00, Match Odds: Reading [1.94], Blackpool [4.4], The Draw [3.8]

If you can forgive Reading their midweek defeat at Peterborough - and I think you can when you bear in mind it was their first in the league since January 21 - then the price to back them in this one looks very good. The Royals have won their last five at the Madejski - in fact they have taken maximum points in nine of their last 10 home games, outscoring their opponents 18-4.

For a top-six side, Blackpool are inconsistent: just one win in their last five, and they have lost three of their last four away from home. They have played the other four teams currently in the top six, have not won any of them and have conceded at least two goals each time. With Reading in such outstanding home form, they have to be backed.

Back Reading @ [1.94]

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