Saturday Accumulator

One suspects that Wolves supporters will have been less than overjoyed about the appointment of rookie Terry Connor as their new manager on Friday. Having stated that the job was ‘not for a novice,’ they appointed one anyway. If the players are at all unconvinced, then the trip to Tyneside will prove even tougher than usual.

Alan Pardew’s side have had a full two weeks to get the shock 5-0 defeat to Spurs out of their system, and they have a good fixture to get themselves back on track. Unlike their visitors, Newcastle are having a fine season and I just can’t see Wolves restraining the likes of Ba and Cisse. A home win makes up the first part of our weekend treble.

Next up we turn our attention to what should be another home banker in the Championship. Birmingham City remain unbeaten in all competitions in 2012 and continue to go from strength to strength despite a huge fixture back-log. An away clash against a top side might be unwelcome at this point, but fortunately for Chris Hughton, instead the Blues host lowly Nott’m Forest.

The visitors may have won at Coventry last week and moved out of the relegation zone, but nobody should be getting carried away. They are only above the dotted line because of Portsmouth’s 10-point deduction for entering administration after all. With 19 defeats and only 26 goals scored all season, Forest still have statistics as bad as any the division.

We should be confident of wins for Newcastle and Birmingham, but our final more speculative pick gets us our value by taking the accumulator to a best price of 6/1 with WilliamHill. Wigan may be rock bottom of the Premier League but their redoubtable spirit and surivival instincts are kicking in again. The 2-1 victory away to Bolton last week came as all the pundits were writing them off yet again.

Roberto Martinez will realise the importance of keeping that momentum going and a home encounter with Aston Villa is an opportunity to do so. Alex McLeish is feeling the heat after four winless games in all competitions; he is also fully aware that 15th in the table is unacceptable to the fans.

Wigan know that three points may even lift them from rock bottom to outside of the drop zone in one afternoon. Quite some incentive, and with a fully fit squad and morale back up, they can do it.