The Skybet League Two season concludes on Saturday with all 24 sides in action and for three of them the stakes could not be higher as they chase promotion to League One.
Saturday’s fixtures are as follows:
Accrington v Stevenage
Wimbledon v Newport
Bristol Rovers v Dag & Red
Crawley v Barnet
Luton v Exeter
Mansfield v Cambridge
Morecambe v York
Notts County v Carlisle
Oxford Utd v Wycombe
Plymouth v Hartlepool
Portsmouth v Northampton
Yeovil v Leyton Orient
Promotion race
Leicester have been all over the news as the story of the season but Accrington can’t be too far behind them in the fairy tale stakes and if they can beat Stevenage on Saturday they will be promoted to League One. They will also go up if Oxford lose or Bristol Rovers fail to win.
Oxford are the other side with their destiny in their own hands. They host a Wycombe side who are winless in five knowing if they win they will be a League One side at the end of the day but Oxford’s home form is patchy at best and that could be a nervy afternoon at the Kassam.
The final side involved are Bristol Rovers. They host already relegated Dagenham who will be looking to exit the League with a third successive win. Rovers have to win to have any chance of automatic promotion and then they need to hope that one of the two above them slip up.
All three sides chasing promotion look amazingly short.
Rest of the matches
There are plenty of dead rubbers around in the division on Saturday and some pretty silly journeys for this time of year too so we have to be careful when it comes to betting with there literally being nothing at stake in the other nine matches.
Team news will be interesting as you would think those that have the capacity to do it will bring some youngsters into their side and things like that so betting before the match isn’t easy unless that news is in the public domain.
Betting
I’m going with three bets in this final round of matches in the hope of finishing the campaign with a flourish. The first one is on Northampton who have been champions for a while but don’t appear to have lost any of their drive.
They were on absolute easy street against Luton last week but were still too good and I fancy them to get something from their match at Portsmouth who must surely be thinking of resting players with the first leg of their playoff tie coming up as soon as Thursday night.
Portsmouth might want to secure home advantage second in which case they could be all out for a win but their away form is such that it might benefit them to be on the road second anyway. Either way I can’t believe they will be all out for a result here with such short recovery time being now and Thursday. At the very worst Northampton can get a draw there.
The other main bet I like in the division is Wycombe to frustrate Oxford. I was at the Kassam a couple of weeks ago and I couldn’t believe the amount of anxiety that was around the place that day and that is only likely to be heightened here you would think.
Wycombe are winless in seven matches but I don’t expect them to roll over and have their tummies tickled. They love the underdog status and up their game accordingly and if there is a side in the division that knows how to spoil a football match they are it.
When you throw into the mix there is an injury cloud over Kemar Roofe, Oxford look like a side who could succumb to pressure but either way they will be all about winning rather than running up a cricket score so the 1.25 goals Wycombe get on the Asian lines looks at least half a goal too much. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Oxford choke completely here.
Finally I can’t resist a little dabble at the prices on Dagenham to wreck Bristol Rovers’ day. These two are chalk and cheese in normal situations but we’re long past a normal situation and if the two sides above Rovers take a lead heads might drop at the Memorial and Dagenham could take advantage.
They are no forlorn hope are Dagenham. They won their last away game at Plymouth which should serve as a warning for the Gas men here but with attentions likely to be elsewhere it is easy to forget to do their own job. I’ll risk a unit on Dagenham and see where it gets me.
Tips
WON – Back Northampton (+0.25AH) to beat Portsmouth for a 4/10 stake at 2.02 with 188bet
Back Wycombe (+1.25AH) to beat Oxford for a 4/10 stake at 1.99 with 188bet
Back them here:
Back Dagenham & Redbridge to beat Bristol Rovers for a 1/10 stake at 14.00 with Bet365
Back them here:
