Tom McGarry provides his best bets for Saturday's EFL action, focusing on an important clash in the Championship and a pair of fixtures from League Two.
Best bets
Coventry to beat Birmingham /
Crawley to beat Colchester /
Crewe to beat Grimsby /
Acca pays 10/1
Birmingham v Coventry (15:00)
Birmingham have not played outside the top two divisions of English football for almost 30 years, but they are in real danger of slipping into the third tier this season after suffering eight defeats across their last 10 Championship games.
Interim manager Gary Rowett has been unable to steady the ship, losing three of his four matches back at the helm, and the visit of play-off chasing Coventry to St Andrew’s is unlikely to lift any of the gloom.
Mark Robins’ visitors have lost two of their previous three, most recently going down at Southampton during the week, but extend that record back a little further and they have won five of their last seven.
Coventry are just five points off the play-off places and boast a game in hand on Norwich in sixth. Having won three of their last four meetings with Birmingham, the Sky Blues will hope to close that gap with a victory in the second city.
Crawley v Colchester (15:00)
Tipped by many to struggle this season, Crawley have been defying expectations in League Two and head into their final four games of the campaign sitting inside the play-off positions following a run of eight wins across their last 12 matches.
Manager Scott Lindsey has rightly been earning plenty of plaudits and his side can consolidate their place in the top seven by beating relegation-threatened Colchester on home soil.
Colchester head to Broadfield Stadium sitting inside the bottom two, albeit with games in hand on their relegation rivals, with head coach Danny Cowley having failed to have the desired effect following his January arrival – the former Lincoln boss has won just two of his 15 matches in charge.
If the U’s are to mount a great escape, their road to recovery is unlikely to start here, as they will be facing a Crawley side who are unbeaten in the last eight meetings between the two teams, claiming four wins and four draws.
Crewe v Grimsby (15:00)
A recent five-match winless run had threatened to derail Crewe’s play-off push, but they steadied the ship with victory at Morecambe during the week and can follow up by getting the better of poor travellers Grimsby.
They head to the Mornflake Stadium still looking nervously over their shoulders in the relegation battle.
Grimsby, who have former Crewe boss David Artell in charge, sit just five points above the bottom two and their struggles are largely based on a disastrous away record.
The Mariners have won only one of 20 road matches in League Two this season, leaving them with the division’s worst away record, and that is unlikely to change on Saturday.
Crewe have lost just five times at home this season, winning 11 of their 21 games at the Mornflake Stadium – victory number 12 should be coming the way of the Railwaymen against Town.
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