Championship / Gavin Mahon / 13 November 2008 / Leave a Comment

QPR's no-nonsense midfielder tells us about scoring against Cardiff, Andy Cole's retirement and why this Saturday's televised Championship match is one for the purists.

I managed to get on the scoresheet last Saturday - the only goal of the game it was too!

It was definitely a case of rolling back the years with a far-post header, having arrived late in the box to get onto the end of a cross. I'd only been on as sub about 10 minutes at home to Cardiff and the instruction was to get on there and make something happen.

It reminded me a bit of my Hereford days when I was getting forward and making late runs a bit more often than I do these days.

It made the biggest slapping sound off my bald head you could imagine, before going back across the goal into the far corner. Cardiff had played quite well and, even when they were down to 10 men, looked like they might hold out.

Obviously it was a different story at Old Trafford on Tuesday night. Our plan to frustrate them with a 4-1-4-1 formation really worked. We defended very well as a team and didn't get sucked out into areas to let them work it round us.

I was pleased with my game. I was the '1' in front of the back four. I got on the ball and passed it simply. We're not scoring loads of goals right now so we knew it was vital not to give anything away. It was a shame the goal came so late because we only had very little time to commit forward and go for an equaliser.

It was a great experience for all the lads, though, and I was pleased to get out there because I was injured with Watford when they went there in the Premiership two years ago.

I see Andy Cole has hung up his boots at the age of 37. He wasn't playing regularly enough at Forest for his liking and it's a bit of a shame he's stopping on that note because he's had a magnificent career.

I remember watching him for Newcastle and thinking he could do a job at the biggest clubs. At Man United he just clicked with Dwight Yorke. A partnership like that - where they knew where each other was instinctively - is like gold dust and United used it to maximum effect.

Any pro' who's stayed in the game at the highest levels like Andy deserves all the credit for a great career. I saw him on Sky Sports News saying he's going to do his coaching badges because he wants to give something back to the game. He's quite a quietly-spoken guy but so are Steve Coppell and Arsene Wenger - and they've done okay. With his knowledge, he'll be a real asset to someone.

Doncaster Rovers v Ipswich Town, Sky Sports 1, Sat Nov 15, 5.20pm

Every week Betting.betfair.com's regular Premiership previewer Richard Walker chats to Gavin about the biggest of the weekend televised matches in The Championship and recommends a couple of bets based on Gavin's insight into the match.

Gavin says:

I'm not sure there'll be loads of goals in this one but it'll certainly be one for the footballing purists amongst you to watch.

These two teams are probably the two who get the ball down and play more than any others in the division.

What they can be guilty of lacking is a cutting edge in the final third. Certainly Doncaster have struggled more than any team to score goals. They looked a good side when we played them back in August - but they still had the momentum of a promotion back then.

That's drifted away and they've wilted a bit; two goals in eight home games tells its own story. Like all Sean O'Driscoll teams, they do play great football but they've not got that one or two player/s you know will get into double-figures - and they lost their biggest midfield goal threat, Paul Green, to Derby in pre-season.

They're desperate to get going and that need might just see them get ahead in front of the television cameras - that alone might be a bit of lift to their lads, wanting to do well live on Sky.

Ipswich have more about them in the scoring sense but perhaps a going a little more direct on occasions than they've traditionally done. At home to us recently, they had Jon Stead and Pablo Counago on the bench, showing they've got more depth than perhaps new boys like Doncaster.

I have this feeling the two sides might cancel each other out here, but that doesn't mean it won't be a good game to watch.

Richard suggests:

Back a low-scoring draw: 1-1 at [7.2] with a 0-0 cover at [10.5]

Take Rovers to start well but then succumb to second-half pressure. Back Doncaster/Draw in the Half-Time/Full-Time market at [20.0].

Play Jon Stead in the To Score list when the market develops.

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