O'Driscoll's men look a good bet.

By Mike Holden

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BETTING BOX
FIXED ODDS
	3pts Newcastle to keep a clean sheet at 7/5 (Paddy Power).	The Magpies should progress untroubled by tepid Swans attack.
	1pt Doncaster to beat Nottingham Forest at 4/1 (Sky Bet).	Donny's free-spirited approach could reap big rewards here.

One of the big secrets of successful football betting is having the ability to be flexible with your opinions, so it's time to finally give up the ghost and admit that Newcastle are the real deal in terms of this season's Championship title race.

We've been looking to take on the Magpies at regular intervals this season, chasing a mirage of what seems like great value in a punishing division renowned for causing many upsets.

But the biggest compliment we can pay to Chris Hughton and his players is that they too have shown the same level of respect to the competition and they are now reaping the rewards of such a professional attitude by grinding out wins without playing particularly well.

It would be easy to curse our luck, pinpointing crucial moments upon which games have hinged, but the simple fact is Newcastle have been stronger - both physically and mentally - than most of their opponents and their apparent good fortune on occasions has been no coincidence.

Indeed, rather than becoming bogged down by the ongoing battle as winter approaches, the Geordies are suddenly beginning to thrive upon that winning feeling and we are perhaps reaching the point when their resilience is starting to worry forthcoming opponents in advance.

Therefore, it would come as no great shock if they stayed at the summit for the remainder of the campaign and now we must set about recouping the cost of our willingness to stand up to them.

So let's start by taking odds of 7/5 on Newcastle to keep a clean sheet against Swansea this weekend.

The Swans are sitting pretty in fourth position having climbed the table almost unnoticed and enormous credit must go to Paulo Sousa for making them so difficult to beat but we feel they're now approaching the stage when they rest on their laurels and run out of steam.

We should acknowledge that the Welsh club will head up to Tyneside bidding to stretch their current unbeaten run to 12 matches and we respect that run by selecting the shut-out option rather than Newcastle to win to nil at 2/1 because we see the goalless draw as a live runner.

This is, after all, a match between two teams that have kept 19 clean sheets between them but whereas Swansea have scored just 15 time in 17 matches - the worst record in the division - the hosts have bagged a much more respectable 26.

Needless to say, the Jacks also have the worst points gained record, losing four out of five matches when they've fallen behind, so we see no way back into the game for them if Newcastle do draw first blood.

Elsewhere, we also like the look of Sky Bet's 4/1 about Doncaster beating Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.

Sean O'Driscoll's men scored an impressive success over QPR last weekend and we're approaching the time of the year when their effortless passing game starts to reap greater rewards against teams feeling the effects of fatigue.

That appeared to be the best explanation for the winter sequence of seven wins and a draw from eight matches that preserved their Championship status last season, a run that started with a 4-2 victory in this corresponding fixture last December.

Forest are well-drilled and difficult to break down but they do tend to struggle on the few occasions when the onus is on them to take the game to the opposition and we feel Rovers can take advantage by being a bit more free-spirited in their approach.