The French Connection: Crystal Palace, Swindon and Gillingham are this week's selections

The French Connection / Andrew French / 11 December 2008 / Leave a Comment

A team in excellent form against a side that is about as bad as they come away from home - there's only one place to start this week's French Connection treble.

Crystal Palace were comfortable if not overly impressive winners against Southampton on Monday night, but that 3-0 success made it four wins out of five for Neil Warnock's side - and it took them into a play-off place, albeit for 24 hours.

Seeing Craig Beattie recalled by parent club West Brom won't help Palace, but big target man Shefqi Kuqi caught the eye against Saints. He may well be on his way too, with Palace reportedly struggling to afford his salary, and the big target man is doing all he can to attract attention with two goals in his last two games.

Two goals - that's a phrase you haven't heard in association with Doncaster this season. Rovers have netted just 10 times in 22 league outings, and have not managed more than one goal in a game. Their away record is dismal: two draws and eight defeats since winning at Derby on the opening day.

Therefore, I'm kicking off the treble by backing Palace at [1.7].

It's not often I'd be too keen to out my faith in a managerless club, but I'll take a chance of Swindon in League One.

The Robins are currently in the hands of caretaker boss David Byrne while they seek a replacement for Maurice Malpas. Their away form is far from great either, with only one success in nine attempts - although they have managed five draws.

But I think that might change this weekend as they are presented an excellent chance to improve their haul on the road by visiting basement boys Crewe. The Alex are firmly rooted to the bottom of the table and someway adrift of everyone else. That's no surprise when you consider they have lost their last five straight league games, and have not won since mid-September.

There's a feeling at the moment that Crewe could be beaten by anyone, and so I'll be including Swindon at a price of around [2.84].

Down into League Two, and I've noticed that Soccer AM have started showing a 'League 2A' table, which only includes the three teams that started the season with a points deduction.

If it weren't for that punished trio, then Barnet would be far deeper in relegation trouble than they are currently. The Bees would, in fact, be in the relegation zone but for the fact that Rotherham, Bournemouth and Luton have had to overcome their points deduction.

They have just one home win to their name, and have lost all of their last three league games at Underhill, conceding eight goals in the process.

Visitors Gillingham have a promotion push in their sights, and their confidence will have been buoyed by coming from behind to win the midweek FA Cup replay at Stockport.

Therefore, it's Gillingham for me at about [2.42].

So, this week's French Connection is backing Crystal Palace, Swindon and Gillingham, for a treble that should pay around the [10.5] mark.