Tuesday Accumulator

On Saturday we witnessed the perils of predicting Championship football when rock bottom Scunthorpe demolished league leaders QPR 4-1, having even gone a goal behind. But one thing we can be sure of is that Neil Warnock has seen it all before and he won’t let the shock to the system linger for too long in the Rangers’ dressing room. The good news, as he will doubtless be telling his players, is that they have another match on Tuesday - a quick opportunity to put things right.

The return of Football League Player of the Year Adel Taarabt won’t half help either. We make a QPR ‘bounce back’ win at Barnsley the first part of a 16/1 treble with WilliamHill. The Tykes had a good win 4-2 win of their own at the weekend but that put them in a mid-table comfort zone in which sides often stop scoring points pretty rapidly come April. By 10pm on Tuesday, Warnock should have ensured that his galvanised side have put a peculiar blip behind them.

Our second pick is for promotion chasers Cardiff to win at beleagured Sheffield United. The Blades’ predicament literally hit rock bottom at the weekend when an 89th minute Boro winner at Bramall Lane consigned the home team to 24th position. Seven points from safety with six games remaining, Micky Adams will surely struggle to lift his side just days after such a hammer blow. In stark contrast the Bluebirds are soaring again after two goals in the final five minutes secured a precious win at Doncaster. A subsequent defeat to Norwich ensured that Cardiff are now right back in the automatic promotion chase, just one point off second. The difference in morale, if not class, should ensure an away win here.

The final selection backs a team at the wrong end of the table who are nevertheless resurgent. Phil Brown has dragged his Preston North End side off the floor to give them faint hopes of survival, against all the odds. The Lancashire side were denied three points by a second half equaliser at Portsmouth but a recent string of wins against Swansea, Coventry and Scunthorpe have not been forgotten. As mentioned above, Doncaster suffered a late defeat at the weekend and they have now collected just two points from a possible 18. If Phil Brown’s charges are going to pull off ‘mission impossible,’ then three points at the Keepmoat Stadium are a must. It could well happen, as could our 16/1 treble punt.