The Championship Preview: Glovers can keep slim survival hopes alive

Mike Norman
20 April 2014

Gary Johnson's Yeovil must win on Easter Monday

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Mike Norman previews Easter Monday's action in the Championship and our man fancies rock bottom Yeovil to give their slim hopes of survival a boost by beating out-of-form Huddersfield at Huish Park...

"The suggestion then is that The Terriers have no bite when coming up against sides scrapping for their lives and therefore the recommended wager has to ba home win."

Back Yeovil @ 2.68/5 to beat Huddersfield

Yeovil 2.68/5 v Huddersfield 3.185/40; The Draw 3.55/2

We're on a recovery mission after backing three losers on Saturday, but with most clubs playing their second game within 48 hours on Monday, added to the fact that some of them have nothing to play for, makes for another really difficult set of fixtures.

My approach is to back teams who do have something to play for, and possibly the club with most at stake on Easter Monday is Yeovil. Fail to beat Huddersfield and Gary Johnson's men will almost certainly be playing League One football next season.

The Glovers have won just one of their last 10 league games but they are proving very difficult to beat, drawing six times in that sequences. Away from home they've held Leicester, Wigan, and Blackburn, all of whom were in fine form at the time, while at Huish Park they've avoided defeat against Bolton and Bournemouth, two more teams in decent form.

Yeovil have scored 12 goals in their last eight games (1.5 per game) compared to 30 in their previous 33 outings (less than one goal per game) which suggests they are certainly giving it a go from an attacking sense. Unfortunately they're struggling to prevent goals being scored at the other end.

But Monday's opponents Huddersfield are in poor form and have absolutely nothing to play for, so Yeovil couldn't have wished for a better fixture to start a survival push.

Mark Robins' men have failed to win any of their last 10 Championship games, including losses to relegation-threatened Doncaster and Blackpool without scoring, and a 0-0 draw with Charlton. The suggestion then is that The Terriers have no bite when coming up against sides scrapping for their lives and therefore the recommended wager has to ba home win.

Recommended Bet: Back Yeovil to Win @ 2.68/5 (best bet)

Sheff Wed 2.26/5 v Charlton 3.65; The Draw 3.613/5

Sheffield Wednesday are certainly in good goalscoring form at present; 10 scored in their last three games, 20 scored since the middle of March. Similar to Yeovil however, the Owls are shipping plenty at the other end and have won just one of their last five league games.

But when you look at the teams Stuart Gray's men have faced recently then there's no disgrace in their results. A loss to resurgent Watford was slightly disappointing admittedly, but a narrow loss away at Leicester, a 3-3 draw at Nottm Forest, another 3-3 draw with Blackburn, and a resounding win at in-form Bournemouth show that Wednesday are a tough nut to crack.

In contrast Charlton have been very poor on their travels. The Addicks have recorded just two wins on the road in almost six months, and they were narrow victories at vastly out-of-form clubs.

A more worrying statistic for Charlton supporters is that their results against bottom-half clubs this season would have them rock bottom of the table, winning just four of 20 games against sides 13th in the table or lower.

Wednesday can record a top half finish with a good end to the season, and that would be a great achievement for a manager who took over a club in deep relegation trouble around Christmas time. A home win is advised.

Recommended Bet: Back Sheff Wed to Win @ 2.26/5

QPR 2.26/5 v Watford 3.65; The Draw 3.55

QPR just can't gather any momentum at present and it's no surprise to me that they are the outsiders to be promoted of the three clubs certain to be in the play-offs (Derby 3.412/5, Wigan 3.55/2, QPR 4.216/5).

Harry Redknapp's men are still scoring goals, but they're conceding far more than they were in the first half of the season. In fact they've conceded 12 goals in their last eight outings, which is staggering when you consider that it took 22 games for them to concede that many from the start of the season.

I'm not overly convinced that results will matter to Redknapp now, I believe his main priority - in fact he has almost said as much - will be to tighten up his defence ready for the play-offs. He knows that being well organised and not conceding goals will give his team a wonderful chance of promotion back to the Premier League.

Of course, not conceding goals is easier said than done but I'm not expecting a plethora of goalmouth action when Watford visit Loftus Road on Monday. At 2.0811/10 to back, I'm happy to wager that this game will end the same way as four of QPR's last six gamee - fewer than three goals being scored.

Recommended Bet: Back Under 2.5 Goals @ 2.0811/10