The French Connection: Charlton, Oldham and Rochdale to come up trumps

The French Connection / Andrew French / 11 April 2008 / Leave a comment

Having your goalkeeper sent off after three minutes of an away game could spell disaster - but for Charlton, it may well have been a defining moment in a promotion campaign that a few days earlier seemed to have totally come off the rails.

The Addicks even fell a goal behind at Plymouth after having seeing Nicky Weaver dismissed for handling outside the box - yet two goals from Leroy Lita earned a most unlikely 2-1 success, and now the Addicks have what must surely be a final chance to secure a play-off berth.

They have four games left, three of them against teams currently in the bottom seven - and I'm taking them to beat struggling Southampton at The Valley this weekend to kick off my treble.

Charlton have been pretty woeful of late, let's make no bones about it: one win in 10 games before the success at Home Park confirms that. But the way they dug in at Plymouth in the face of such adversity suggests Alan Pardew may have summoned one last charge from a squad that, admittedly on paper, looks one of the strongest in the Championship.

The Saints enjoyed a vital win over Bristol City last weekend but their current form is even worse than their hosts: one victory in 14 games before last weekend. Away from home they have gone 12 games without a win, during which time they have conceded 23 goals.

Therefore, with Lita starting to find the form that made him such a force for Reading, I am backing Charlton at [1.92].

With Oldham on the way up and Orient on the slide, backing the Latics at [1.92] makes up the second part of this week's French Connection.

With the top five some way clear of the rest, there is really only one play-off place left to fight for in League One, and although Oldham are enjoying a late flurry, they are probably just too far behind to get involved in the scrap.

However, their recent home form - three wins out four and ten goals scored - should be good enough to see off Orient, who really have landed on a League One snake after appearing to be at the foot of a ladder earlier in the season.

The O's won seven of their opening nine league games and looked like promotion contenders. However, lately they have looked more like relegation fodder as they have lost their last four games and scored just one goal in the process.

A play-off place may be unlikely but all Oldham can do is take maximum points from their remaining games, and I think that will start with victory over Orient.

It's a similar story in League Two as we get involved in a game featuring two teams moving in opposite directions.

Struggling Dagenham and Redbridge are only four points clear of second-bottom Mansfield and will be looking over their shoulders. The Daggers enjoyed a February renaissance with four wins in as many games, but it's far less impressive them of late and they have not won in seven outings.

Contrast that with Rochdale who come into this weekend's game on the back of five straight victories. The Dale have had to pack games in as they catch up on games postponed earlier in the season due to their poor playing surface at Spotland.

However, the run of games in quick succession has enabled them to get up a head of steam, and they now sit in a play-off position. That will, I believe, be cemented with victory at Victoria Road this weekend - so I'm backing Rochdale at [2.04].

That gives us a French Connection backing Charlton at [1.92], Oldham at [1.92] and Rochdale at [2.04] - a treble that pays around the [7.5] mark.