English Football League / Andrew French / 08 February 2008 /

Andrew French tells us why Ian Holloway's January spending spree should result in a win against Plymouth on Saturday

It's been a tough season so far for Leicester, one which many might say has been of their own making, and the threat of relegation still hovers all around them.

Tomorrow they host Plymouth Argyle live on Sky Sports, and manager Ian Holloway comes up against one of his former clubs who themselves are suffering a slide down the Championship table, having flirted with the play-off places.

When Holloway arrived at the Walkers Stadium in November, his was the third backside to have sat in the manager's chair already, and with no chance to buy players for several weeks, the outspoken Bristolian had to shuffle what he had and get on with it.

He was busy in January, bringing in four new faces - defender Jamie Clapham is set to become the latest to make his debut in tomorrow's game.

However, the Foxes are still uncomfortably perched just above the drop zone, although his new strikers are already starting to make their presence felt: both Steve Howard and Barry Hayles have found the net twice in their four games to date.

Certainly it appears that if City are to pull clear, then home games hold the key. Their last four fixtures at the Walkers Stadium have borne 10 points and three clean sheets - the last four away trips have seen them garner only two points.

Plymouth made a flying start to the season, losing only two of their first 14 games. When Holloway left for the Midlands in late November there was no immediate sign of the bandwagon slowing, but it's been a different story since the turn of the year: just two points and one goal in five games.

Manager Paul Sturrock splashed out £500,000 on Scottish striker Steve MacLean, who he worked with at Sheffield Wednesday. However, the 25-year-old has not netted in three outings so far - in fact, his last goal was way back on August 18, although in mitigation he did spend much of his time at previous club Cardiff warming the bench.

If Leicester don't want to be worrying about the drop come May then they have to take such good looking opportunities as tomorrow's. Plymouth are clearly in a slump, aren't winning games and aren't scoring goals.

The Foxes can be backed at [2.22] but that is a bit skinny for a team that is, after all, only four points above the bottom three. Their lowly status hasn't been achieved because they are a safe and reliable bet.

Having said that, they ought to have the beating of Plymouth, especially as big target man Howard is a proven operator at this level. He and Hayles have the firepower to take the Foxes away from the foot of the table, and with Leicester having pacy frontman DJ Campbell in reserve, they would appear to possess the ammunition to stay up.

Therefore, I suggest backing Leicester half-time/full-time at [3.9], and also to win 2-0 at [11.5].

I don't think it will be a goal-feast though, and so I'll be looking at laying Over 2.5 goals at [2.46] - supported by the fact that none of Leicester's last four home league games, or Plymouth's last three away games in the Championship, have produced more than two goals.

I can't offer enthusiasm for backing Plymouth at [3.8], although if you do have some nagging doubts about putting your faith in a team that has struggled all season, then backing the draw at [3.35] as a saver isn't the worst option.

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