League One Tips: Bloomfield to make a winning start for Adams Park debut

• Stanley in need of the points in drop zone

• Wycombe's home record strong

• Pompey finding their form again

Ferguson wait for a win to continue at Stanley

Accrington Stanley v Forest Green Rovers
Saturday 4th March, kick-off 15:00

Not a lot has changed since Duncan Ferguson rather surprisingly took the Forest Green job at the New Lawn at the end of January, and the towering Scot still is waiting for his first win in six games.

Ferguson is feeling his status is hindering decisions from referees by saying: "I think it's me, I do. Maybe it's my name, I'm not quite sure, but we just don't seem to be getting the breaks."

They earned a 1-1 with Lincoln on Saturday with a fair bit of possession in the first-half and they looked solid, but they have only scored 26 goals all season and their overall xG of 0.98 is one of the worst in the division - which is not a surprise.

Accrington have won two of their last four home league games (L2), as many as in their first 11 such games of 2022-23 (W2 D5 L4), and while it may not be pretty, the 2.466/4 on offer is more than fair.

Stanley themselves are finding goals hard to come by too, and have only netted two in their last six, which is most unlike them on previous seasons.

The Under 2.5 Goals is priced accordingly at 1.695/7 on the Exchange, but Forest Green are one of two sides in the Football League, along with Morecambe, yet to keep a clean sheet away from home this season, with Rovers conceding on average 2.1 goals per game on the road in 2022-23, and that could be enough for a narrow home win.

The 1-0 might be a play on the Correct Score market considering Stanley struggled to create anything of note in the recent 0-0 with Burton - a game where defences were very much on top.

Some of Accrington's games of late have been ugly, especially the trip to Port Vale but they showed a bit of improvement in the Wycombe performance despite a 0-2 reverse.

The Bet Builder options on the Sportsbook should focus on low-scores and the Under 1.5 with Accrington to win pays around 5/1 for the double. The BTTS to score 'No' is a 9/10 price.

KEY OPTA STAT: Accrington Stanley won their only previous Football League home game against Forest Green 3-1 in March 2018.

The return of the prodigal Wycombe son

Wycombe Wanderers v Exeter City
Saturday 4th March, kick-off 15:00

Wycombe are still adjusting to life without Gareth Ainsworth and Matt Bloomfield as the heir apparent faces his first match in charge of the team at Adams Park this Saturday. Bloomfield played his 558th and final game for Wycombe against Exeter, so there's a bit of fate here.

The 39-year-old was a good call as an appointment as the prodigal son, and he'll be hoping Jack Grimmer and Ryan Tafazolli both return from injury to come into contention.

Exeter possess a dreadful record at Adams Park, and have only won one of their previous ten visits to Buckinghamshire, on New Year's Day a decade ago. The Grecians have also failed to score in each of their last two away league games (L2); and last went three Football League games on their travels without scoring in August 2014 in League Two.

The hosts under Ainsworth have been very reliable at home, and have beaten Derby (3-2) and Bolton (1-0) in February, and didn't play too badly in the 0-1 loss to Sheffield Wednesday - only they only created two chances. However, that wasn't a surprise considering Wednesday have kept 20 clean sheets this term.

Bloomfield has spoken about retaining the principles of the club, and none will be wiser to how Ainsworth had instilled the winning mentality.

Wycombe's home form is strong enough here with just 15 conceded and nine Adams Park wins and a word also on midfielder Garath McCleary for Wycombe, as he recently made his 500th league appearance. He's an excellent pro and leader and will be important for the new boss. At least one Garath is staying.

KEY OPTA STAT: Matt Bloomfield lost his first league match in charge of Wycombe against Shrewsbury 2-0, in the Football League only Terry Evans in January 1999 has lost each of his first two league fixtures in charge of the Chairboys.

Pompey to keep run going under Mousinho

Cambridge United v Portsmouth
Saturday 4th March, kick-off 15:00

The upsurge in Pompey results since John Mousinho replaced Danny Cowley has been deeply impressive. I've always liked Cowley, but it had gone very stale under his tenure, and they couldn't score.

Mousinho has won five of his nine games in charge and the play-offs are still an outside possibility. He's lost only two.

Pompey now face a brutal fun of fixtures in the next 15 days with four away matches in five but Mousinho will be eager to keep that consistency - which is so often the problem of League One teams.

Take for example Peterborough; they smashed five past Plymouth's top defence on Saturday and just 48 hours later mustered only two shots in a 0-0 against Charlton. It's a difficult one to fathom.

Cambridge have won just once since the turn of the year and are in a relegation battle at a place above Forest Green, and they are also one of the division's lowest scorers at home with just 15 - although they have only conceded 19 at the Abbey.

Mark Bonner's team are highly organised and play a certain way (direct to you and me) but they have a dreadful record against Pompey; and have only won one of their last 15 league games against the south coast club (D2 L12), a 2-1 victory in September 2021.

Portsmouth produced one of the results of the week on Tuesday with a 3-1 beating of Bolton, who were previously in rampant form, with Ryley Towler bagging two and Colby Bishop finding a bit of form again with a late goal.

"I feel that I'm getting a lot more chances now - and that is good for me. I feel that I work hard enough that I will get those chances, and that was the case against Bolton," said the 26-year-old, and the packed Pompey midfield seems to be creating more chances these days than under Cowley.

Bishop is a 17/10 price to Score Anytime on the Sportsbook and his 17 in 38 record is impressive despite a quiet spell.

Evens on Pompey to continue their run is about right, and if they can back up the Bolton performance, Mousinho can bag his sixth win as he continues to impress.

KEY OPTA STAT: Cambridge United have failed to score in more League One games than any other side this term (16), though they've scored at least once in each of their last five home league games (W2 D1 L2) having priorly gone on a seven-game run without scoring at home.