League One Midweek Tips: Tigers can find their bite again after FA Cup exit

Shrewsbury Town v Accrington Stanley
Wednesday 2nd December, kick-off 19:00

It’s a warm welcome back to the Football League for Steve Cotterill, who rather surprisingly was named as the new boss at Shrewsbury last week. The former Birmingham manager had been out of the game for two years, so it certainly caught me napping. I was steadfast in thinking the job was made for a Paul Hurst return.

Cotterill oversaw a scrappy 1-0 FA Cup win against a spirited Oxford City for his first game in charge, and this will be a stern examination against Accrington – who have kept a clean sheet in five successive fixtures (W4 D1).

Town can’t boast anything of that ilk, but the two are fairly evenly matched in terms of the betting here with Stanley narrow favourites at 2.526/4 and Shrewsbury at 2.8415/8. I think the visitors deserve to be that sort of price and they’ve done well to hit 22 points for the season. Plus they have games in hand.

When the market is like this, my preference is to play for the draw as I can see the hosts building on their 2-2 last week against MK Dons – the result that ultimately cost Sam Ricketts his job.

The Double Chance is a bit short at around 1.608/13, but we’ve had a couple winners using the SAME GAME MULTI on the Sportsbook, so I am happy to weigh in with the Double Chance and Under 2.5 that pays out 2.33.

KEY OPTA STAT: Shrewsbury have lost two of their last three meetings with Accrington – as many as their first 15 games against them in the Football League.

Hull City v Doncaster Rovers
Wednesday 2nd November, kick-off 19:00

My own personal horror run siding with Hull continued at the weekend following an FA Cup exit at the hands of League Two Stevenage Borough. Yes, it’s a bit of a cliche about promotion as the be-all-and-end-all, but I didn’t quite expect 11 changes from City boss Grant McCann.

Hull have won 10 of their 13 league matches this term. I’ve found two of their defeats and managed Sunday’s loss so I’m getting somewhat frustrated.

But their price of 1.981/1 is actually reasonable considering their excellent record. I guarantee if Sunderland held that sequence, they’d be around 1.758/11.

The Tigers have conceded only two goals at home this term (in a 1-2 loss to Peterborough), and with the platform of four clean sheets from five, the inconsistencies of Doncaster could result in them finding it tough to breach a good defence.

Backing the Clean Sheet and ‘Yes’ for the hosts will be popular, but they’ve also bagged three 1-0 scores in those five games mentioned, so it might be worth exploring the Correct Score market.

KEY OPTA STAT: Hull have won 10 of their 13 league matches this term, the earliest they have reached that number since 1948-9.

Bristol Rovers v Gillingham
Wednesday 2nd December, kick-off 19:00

Sometimes prices in League One just look…