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Picture Saunders - his team can spring a surprise.

DRAGONS CAN SPRING INTO LIFE

By Mike Holden

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BETTING BOX
FIXED ODDS
2pts Hereford to beat Colchester at 16/5 (Sky Bet). The Bulls have won seven out of eight at home and deserve more respect.
2pts Port Vale to beat Huddersfield at 3/1 (general). Town struggle to impose themselves on the road and look vulnerable.
2pts Wrexham to beat Swindon at 7/2 (Sky Bet). The Dragons can bring their season to life against over-rated Robins.
2pts Torquay to beat Stockport at 7/2 (general). County have lost six league games on the bounce and look very fragile.
1.5pts Luton to beat Rotherham at 5/1 (Paddy Power). The Hatters look overpriced to score another knockout away win.

Swindon rekindled their League One play-off hopes with a big win over Huddersfield in midweek but non-league Wrexham could bring them crashing back down to earth in the FA Cup on Saturday.

The Wiltshire club head to North Wales on the back of four straight victories but we're not convinced of their quality and they might struggle to live up to the expectation created by such a sequence, so the Dragons should be chanced at 7/2 with home advantage.

Dean Saunders' men have been far from formidable in the Blue Square Premier this term but their lowly position in the table only adds weight to the argument that they will raise their game to a disproportionate level for 90 minutes as they seek to make something worthwhile of their season.

It's only three seasons ago that these two clubs were competing on equal terms in the basement and Wrexham have triumphed in all three meetings at the Racecourse since 2004, so we shouldn't expect too much of an inferiority complex on behalf of the home side.

Indeed, you would suspect there's probably been a fair amount of anticipation since the draw was made three weeks ago because it's debatable whether Saunders himself could have handpicked a more glamorous tie that falls squarely into the winnable category.

Meanwhile, Huddersfield's defeat against Swindon at the County Ground on Tuesday provided further evidence that they're not ready to be taken seriously as automatic promotion contenders in League One and they could also come a cropper at Port Vale.

There's no denying that Lee Clark has an abundance of attacking quality at his disposal but the Terriers are too often unable to impose themselves on the road and a record of six defeats in nine away matches makes them very flaky favourites at around the even money mark.

The Valiants are no strangers to exposing Yorkshire frailties having dumped both Sheffield clubs out of the Carling Cup earlier in the campaign and they will also draw strength from a breathtaking 4-3 away victory over Town in last season's competition.

Vale were 3-1 down with barely 10 minutes remaining in that game, so hope is unlikely to be diminished if the visitors do get their noses in front once again and odds of 3/1 are worthy of consideration.

Elsewhere, there's been to be plenty of FA Cup nostalgia floating about at Edgar Street where two of the competition's biggest giantkilling names go head to head for a place in the third round, so it would be fitting if the game provided another upset with Hereford beating Colchester.

The Bulls did Bettingzone followers proud with victory over local rivals Shrewsbury in midweek, stretching their impressive home sequence to seven wins and a draw in the last eight matches and now they can follow up by landing odds of 16/5 against the U's.

It's rare that we would ever consider opposing a team managed by Aidy Boothroyd and while we doubt the visitors will be found wanting in terms of endeavour, we believe that Hereford are being written off a little readily in this instance.

Meanwhile, one team being habitually written off this season is Torquay and we'll be banging the drum for Paul Buckle's men once against again at Stockport this weekend.

So far the layers have been getting away with their dismissive stance on the Gulls and it was an all-too-familiar story at Vale Park in midweek as the Devon outfit largely dominated proceedings against Port Vale only to settle for a 2-2 draw and deny us another big price.

However, we should trust that Torquay's fortunes will turn eventually and the change of competition brings a change of dynamic that might better reward their incessant efforts.

Stockport are in miserable form after suffering a sixth straight league defeat against Colchester in midweek and odds of 4/1 about the away win are simply too big.

Finally, throw a point on Luton to beat Rotherham at 5/1.

Our position on the Millers has been voiced repeatedly in recent weeks and it hasn't changed at all.

We fully accept that the South Yorkshire outfit have quality within their ranks but we see problems arising from the change in management and the fundamental contrast in Ronnie Moore's philosophy with that of previous boss Mark Robins.

Luton have already accounted for Rochdale in the last round and though they rode their luck to weather a storm and win 2-0 at Spotland, they will have garnered incredible belief from that result and will now fancy themselves to repeat the trick at Don Valley.

  • Preview posted at 2045 GMT on 25/11/2009.


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