League One Betting: Robinson rant to inspire disappointing Dons

23Mar 2013

Betfair

Although the play-offs are looking unlikely for the MK Dons, Alan Dudman is hoping Karl Robinson's side can produce a result this Saturday. Elsewhere Preston continue to make appeal for an unders bet, as they entertain in-form Leyton Orient.

Colchester United 3.55 v MK Dons 2.30, the draw 3.60

How disappointing have the MK Dons been this season? The perennial play-off merchants are needing six wins from their last eight according to their manager Karl Robinson, if they are to have an outside chance of making the end-of-term games - but it's looking highly unlikely.

Long have I been a fan of Robinson too, a progressive young coach, great thinker and good talker, but it's not quite been his campaign. The 32-year-old hit out at some of his squad after Tuesday's 2-1 defeat to Crewe, and according to those reports, some players might not be featuring anymore.

Colchester are still fighting in their quest to stay in the division and battled heroically to beat Bury 2-1 on Saturday with 10 men. The back-four withstood a tremendous amount of pressure and defended crosses superbly. However, they will face a different test against the stylish Buckinghamshire side this Saturday.

Opta stats point favourably to the visitors too, as the Dons have won their last four successive league games with Colchester (scoring 14 goals in total).

The price on MK Dons is a bit thin, but I am hoping Robinson plays a few of their talented youngsters to give a fresh feel to their football. And fresh legs is something Joe Dunne's Essex side might be lacking a bit at the moment, after the gruelling game last weekend from his thin squad.

Recommended bets:

Back over 2.5 goals @ 2.20

Back MK Dons to win @ 2.30

Preston North End 2.26 v Leyton Orient 3.50, the draw 3.45

Any encounter at the moment involving Preston immediately leads me to searching out the price for the unders bets. Since Simon Grayson has taken charge at North End, eight points have been collected from his first five games in charge - a decent return. However, I am more excited about the goals, or lack of them. All five of those matches mentioned have been under 2.5 goals.

I have often said about Grayson's teams here, they are strong, disciplined and well organised. They are unlikely to give an opponent too much, and will be drilled not to make many mistakes.

The Lillywhites were undone by Brentford's late goal (another one!) on Saturday and lost 1-0, but they defended stoically in fighting off 23 attempts at their goal.

Orient meanwhile are the form team in the division, with an unbeaten run of six matches and a potential tilt at the play-offs. Opta stats refer to their impressive record with Preston recently, of which they have won all three of their recent league games.

The Londoners have a good balanced side and beat Carlisle 4-1 on Saturday, however this shouldn't be as open, and I am favouring the unders. And if you like laying the draw, Opta state none of their previous 12 meetings in Lancashire have ended in a stalemate.

Recommended bets:

Back under 1.5 goals @ 3.60

Back under 2.5 goals @ 1.98

Back 0-0 @ 11.0 and 1-1 @ 8.0

Portsmouth 3.50 v Coventry City 2.20, the draw 3.50

Bottom club Portsmouth have been much better recently, with manager Guy Whittingham mixing some of the Academy players with the golden oldies to produce some improved results and performances. This has been the case since February, and it's helped Whittingham to play a consistent side.

One of the older brigade is David Connolly, who has grabbed four goals from his last five games. However it was youngster Jed Wallace who netted in the 1-1 draw recently against league leaders Doncaster - a superb team effort on the worst pitch in League One.

Pompey's last nine games have resulted in eight under 2.5 goals affairs.

Coventry are much better away from home, but their goals record poses a classic problem this weekend. Only

one of their last seven games has seen less then two goals scored, and impressively the Sky Blues have found the net on 35 occasions on the road.

New manager Steven Pressley has been in the job two weeks, and he will be braced for news on Friday from the High Court concerning the potential threat of a points deduction. I wouldn't be worried about their attitude however, as recently it's been great on the pitch with some never-say-die efforts.

I am not convinced enough to weigh in with the visitors at the shorter odds, but the unders are appealing the most.

Recommended bet:

Back under 2.5 goals @ 1.90

Back 0-0 @ 9.0 1-1 @ 7.0