League 1 on Easter Monday

Carlisle V Northampton

A win tonight will move Carlisle to within 4 points of top placed Swansea pending other results. Swansea have dropped points in recent games giving a chance for their close opponents to close the gap.
Brunton Park has been a fortress with 15 wins from 17 attempts, a truly remarkable effort. A win tonight will make it 14 in a row and they have 9 clean sheets to their record. With 7 defeats away from home it is that remarkable home record that is keeping their title challenge alive. Manager John Ward has no injury worries to contend with and looks likely to start with the same side that beat Leyton Orient last weekend.
Northampton sit in 12th spot and are still in with a shot at the playoffs. Their recent form has good of late taking some decent results against out of sorts Swansea but were beaten 2 – 1 at home to Nottingham Forest. 11 points from the last possible 18 away from home is a good return and they have based their success on good defensive play. Manager Stuart Gray has injury concerns regarding Chris Doig, Brett Johnson, Danny May and Mark Hughes.

Verdict
Carlisle obviously need the three points but may have their work cut out for them here. Despite the fact that they have scored in all but one of their home games tonight will be a good test of them. I still expect them to get the result but im not sure whether to go with the Carlisle win or unders. Northampton have proven to be a difficult side to beat but I think Carlisle will have enough to eventually get the better of them. Carlisle to win 1 – 0

PICK
Carlisle win (1.8 @ betfred) 6 points


Doncaster V Oldham

Doncaster lost valuable points on Friday night losing 2 – 1 away to Yeovil. That makes the need for a win even far greater tonight as they look to gain automatic promotion to the championship. Their home form has been solid winning the last 4 averaging 2 goals a game. In general their home record has also been good with just 4 defeat and 10 clean sheets. Gordon Greer would appear to be the only absentee.
Oldham have felt the force of a long injury list lately and were easily defeated 3 – 0 to Luton town last weekend. Manager John Sheridan has to plan without John Thompson, Andy Liddell, Lee Hughes, Craig Davies, Lewis Alessandra, Mark Crossley but Reuben Hazell returns from suspension. Apart from their 3 – 0 win against bottom side Port Vale on March 1st they have found goals hard to come by only hitting the net in two of the last 7 games.

Verdict
Short and sweet, Doncaster need a win to get back on track and should do so with little fuss against an injury ravaged Oldham side. Oldham were made to look very ordinary against Luton town last time out so Doncaster should be able to notch up another 3 points with ease.

PICK
Doncaster (1.67 @ paddy power) 5 points