It's the start of a new era at Ewood Park this weekend and I believe Blackburn will ensure Henning Berg's home reign gets off to a fine start against Birmingham.
The disillusioned Rovers faithful finally got what they wanted when boss Steve Kean left at the end of September.
A month long search for his replacement ended last month when Norwegian Berg, who won the title with Blackburn in 1995, was unveiled.
He's not exactly got off to a flyer with a defeat at Crystal Palace and then a draw at Huddersfield in midweek as Town equalised in the final seconds.
But with the terraces set to be united after virtually two seasons of unrest for every home game I fancy Berg will have his squad fully fired up and determined to show the supporters he means business.
The Blues, who beat Bristol City 2-0 on Tuesday, have improved in recent weeks but with Jordan Rhodes in red-hot form the price is too good to ignore.
High-flying Cardiff were left stunned in midweek when they threw away a 2-0 lead to lose 5-4 at Charlton but I'd back them to bounce back from that against Hull.
The Bluebirds have been unstoppable on their own patch so far and have racked up seven wins from seven but Hull's impressive run of form, they've won five of their last six matches, means the bookies offer a home win at 11/10 in places.
That should be taken advantage of and I'd combine Malky Mackay's men in a double with Leeds, who face Watford at Elland Road.
Neil Warnock's men have gone off the boil in recent weeks and are without a win in five league matches. But you can get an eye-catching price with the Hornets hit and miss on the road and the double combined returns a healthy profit.
For this weekend's Championship outsider I like the look of the 9/5 for Huddersfield to win at Yorkshire rivals Barnsley.
Town have already won a derby this season on the road, 3-1 at Sheffield Wednesday in September, and head to the Tykes in seventh.
Keith Hill's men are on the slide with three defeats on the spin and at almost 2/1 I'd take the visitors to edge it.
In League One it will be a case of friends reunited when high-flying Stevenage entertain former boss Graham Westley's Preston North End.
Westley will return to the club he left in January with a string of Boro old boys that include Scott Laird, Joel Byrom, Chris Beardsley and John Mousinho.
Boro have shrugged off their losses to climb to second in the table under Gary Smith and start the weekend nine points better off than North End.
There will be no quarter given by either side in this clash and the draw at 12/5 with Sky Bet and BetVictor is the standout price.
Elsewhere Bournemouth have given us plenty of joy in recent weeks since Eddie Howe returned south from Burnley and I'm going to stick with them at Doncaster.
The Cherries, who I always felt would go well this season with an expensively assembled squad, have won five of their last six after luring Howe back.
Howe has an embarrassment of riches up front with Josh McQuoid, Lewis Grabban, Wes Thomas, Lee Barnard and Matt Tubbs all at his disposal and they will be right in the mix at the right end come the end of the season.
They have already shot up to 12th, just six points off sixth-placed Donny, and at 7/4 I will be investing in yet another win.
Click here for completely free £10 bet with Sky Bet & £5 free every week
Post Comment
