Gavin Mahon / Gavin Mahon / 26 November 2008 / Leave a comment

The busy Championship schedule gives clubs the chance to carry on winning runs and atone for defeats quickly, says Gavin Mahon as QPR bounce back from a humbling with victory.

It was good to get a bad day at the office last weekend out of our systems with a win on Tuesday night.

That's actually one of the big benefits of the Championship - and the Football League as a whole. You don't normally have to wait too long until the next match. I know some lads say they don't really get a break but, let's be honest, as a professional footballer there's nothing you enjoy more than playing matches.

When you're on top of your game, as Wolves are right now for example, the matches can't come quick enough. And when you've had a bad result, like we did, three days later you can put it right - which we did on Tuesday night.

We were back at my old club Watford on Saturday but it was a performance to forget for us, really. Watford deserved the win, no doubt about that. We haven't had too many of those this year and it's about making sure they don't come around too often.

With a new manager ourselves, we've just played two teams who've parted company with theirs. I suppose November, December time, is about the point in the season when a board might feel it can't let a slide go on too much longer.

Both Aidy Boothroyd and Alan Pardew are managers who know this division well but, ultimately, weren't getting the results needed and the thought of either of their clubs slipping into League One caused the boards to act.

Phil Parkinson's taken up the reins at Charlton, so they've not got a managerial novice in there as caretaker. He had some great times at Colchester and has got a good idea of what's needed at this level. Okay he didn't start to well, with our 2-1 win, but I'm sure he'll get a reaction from their lads for the weekend.

I've seen a couple of interviews with Parky recently, where he's talking about pride, fighting to get results and accepting the situation before doing something about it. I think he's right on all fronts.

You can play your way out of trouble but, as I've said before, the Championship is unforgiving and you've got to earn the right to play by winning individual physical battles.

It seems as though Charlton weren't really doing that. I know their home crowd were getting a bit restless, too. There's nowhere to hide out on a pitch when you've got 20-odd thousand people waiting for you to make a mistake.

That's when your real leaders, the men who'll stand up and be counted, come to the fore. Players like Matt Holland, who's been there years, will be vital to Charlton right now. They're going to need some real leadership qualities, especially with the youngsters they've got in their squad.

The division's so tight, two or three wins on the run and you're in the top half pushing for the top six. It's that consistency which most sides are lacking - and have lacked in the last few seasons - which makes the Championship so competitive.

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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.

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Birmingham City,Sky Sports 1, Sat Nov 29, 12.30pm

Gavin says:

If there's two teams you could say are showing real consistency, it's probably my old club Wolves and Birmingham City, the team I support.

I might be lucky and get to watch this one on the coach because we're travelling to Crystal Palace on Saturday. I'll definitely by Sky+ing it, whatever happens. It's probably one of the division's feature fixtures this season.

With the way Mick McCarthy has got his side playing, I'm sure there'll be a good few goals. They'd conceded six goals in the space of two or three games at one point but the two up front, Chris Iwelumo and Sylvain Ebanks-Blake, can't help scoring them either.

Blues, on the other hand, have got real depth to their attacking options. And it seems every time Alex McLeish leaves Kevin Phillips on the bench, the little man comes on and reminds his manager why he has to start.

I think he and Marcus Bent have just started to get a bit of partnership going so that's going to be dangerous for whoever they play right now. I've got to feel that my team are going to sneak it. They might just have that crucial extra goal when it matters.

This isn't a true local derby because it's not like Wolves-West Brom or Villa-Blues but they'll be plenty of bite about it - it's the nearest both clubs are going to get this season with the other two in the Premier League. There could be a few fireworks, I reckon.

Richard suggests:

Back a high-scoring thriller, 75% stake on Over 2.5 goals at [1.83], 25% stake on Over 3.5 goals at [2.98].

Reflect the high-scoring theme by backing 3-2 to Birmingham at [34.0]

Back Marcus Bent to maintain his good form with the First Goal at roughly [9.0] when the market gets going.

With the potential for fireworks, back the sending-off at []