Southampton vs. Doncaster Rovers

Southampton’s promotion juggernaut looks set to keep on rolling when second bottom Doncaster Rovers make the visit to St Mary’s on Saturday March 24.

A whopping 41 points separate the two teams in the Npower Championship and on paper this seems certain to be a complete mismatch with both clubs in line to be plying their trades in different divisions next season.

Saints have rarely suffered a blip throughout the campaign and their hot streak of five wins and a draw from their last six is proof enough that they are not ready to relent.

Perhaps most impressive amongst Southampton’s recent exploits was their dogged win away to Leeds United, where after taking an early lead they were pummelled and battered continuously for the remainder of the ninety minutes.

After managing to hold out against all the odds, confidence now appears to have shot through the roof and Nigel Adkins squad look ready candidates to make the step back up to the big time.

They will be relishing a home fixture against struggling Doncaster Rovers and it would be a major surprise if the visitors were able to claim anything from the game.

Rovers have, in all fairness, largely stopped their long term rot and have only been defeated once in their last six matches.

Their recent draw with promotion challengers West Ham demonstrated signs that they may be able to survive the drop; however Dean Saunders’ side must now take the extra step forward in order to start winning games.

That task looks far too stiff in terms of this contest and Rovers are likely to be vulnerable to Southampton’s quick passing, speed and the ruthless Ricky Lambert who cannot stop scoring goals.

Adkins will have drilled into his charges that they have to keep up the standard as it is Reading who have now emerged from the pack as their main title contenders due to an amazing 28 point haul from ten games.

With West Ham seemingly beaten off and now five points behind in third, Southampton can put one foot in the automatic promotion places with victory here and they are expected to achieve a result comfortably.

For Doncaster, it is likely to be results against teams in and around them in the bottom third which decide their fate in the run in.

Southampton will be the banker bet of the weekend for many punters but the 4/11 is actually a good price if legged into some serious doubles or trebles.

But with the anticipated result appearing more than a formality, it may pay to back the hosts to cover a one goal handicap at near even money – after all, backers taking the 4/11 would be hoping that matters are sewn up early on anyway.

The aforementioned Lambert surely has to add to his tally also – and any decent odds about the hitman firing a brace or more should be gobbled up readily.

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25/03/2012     © Frixo 2024