Pardew's Hammers can grab vital win (Getty Images).

By Jeff Bottomley

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Betting Box Tipping Guide

BETTING BOX
FIXED ODDS
	2pts double Scunthorpe and West Ham at 2.3/1 (Stan James)	Both teams have to win and are taking on sides of lesser quality.
	1pt Torquay to beat Colchester at 13/8 (general)	Won the last four and will fancy their chances against average U's side.
	2pts Wolves to beat Sheffield United at 11/10 (general)	In fine form, playing some great football and at home.

SATURDAY

Torquay know that a point at Colchester will keep them in League One, but they should be backed to claim all three at Layer Road.

The Gulls have made a remarkable recovery in recent weeks to pull themselves out of the drop zone, and surely they will want to finish off the job on Saturday.

A 4-1 home defeat by Luton at the end of March suggested the Gulls would be heading straight back to League Two but for a minor miracle!

However, a 1-1 draw at Walsall seemed to give them hope and since then they haven't looked back.

Wins against MK Dons, Port Vale, Oldham and Blackpool has seen them move up to 19th in the table, and with three clean sheets from those games, the defence is in good working order.

The fact the Dons and Oldham are now below them just shows how important those two wins were and if any team is holding its nerve, it is definitely Torquay.

Colchester head into this game on the back of a 10-game unbeaten run, but with seven draws being the mainstay of this sequence of results, the Gulls certainly have little to fear.

Sitting just three places above Torquay it's been another unspectacular season for U's fans and with nine home defeats at Layer Road they have the fourth worst home record in the division.

The bookies have Torquay priced up at 13/8 for this one and many pundits believe they will go there looking for a point.

However, Leroy Rosenior has stated this week that to play that game would be a dangerous one, and he wants his side to create enough chances to bag the win.

After four straight wins, confidence will be high in the Gulls camp and at such an attractive price they warrant a small investment.

Scunthorpe can earn promotion back to League One by winning at Shrewsbury.

The Iron have been in the top three for most of the season and Brian Laws' men would be absolutely gutted if they slipped out of the automatic promotion spots by losing at Gay Meadow.

However, on current form they should be backed to make sure of promotion by seeing off a Shrews side that have nothing left to play for.

With three wins and two draws from their last five games, the Iron have sent out a message to their promotion rivals, and last week's 4-0 thrashing of tough-to-beat Bristol Rovers was just what Laws would have wanted to see.

Great credit has to go to Laws for how he has turned the club around in his second stint at the Glanford Park, and if they do gain promotion it will finish of a superb season that also saw them give Premiership champions Chelsea a fright at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup.

Gary Peters has done a superb job in dragging Shrewsbury clear of the relegation places and he will be looking ahead to next season with renewed optimism.

Picking up points against the teams around them has been the key to their success as against the top teams they have struggled.

In the last couple of months Southend, Lincoln, Macclesfield, Northampton and Swansea have all banked maximum points against the Shrews and the Iron, who sit higher than all of these sides, have to be fancied to keep this trend going on Saturday.

SUNDAY

West Ham are aware that a win on Sunday should get them into the play-offs and they should be backed to see off Watford at Vicarage Road.

The pressure has been on Hammers boss Alan Pardew for most of the season and anything but promotion via the play-offs, will more than likely see him leave Upton Park before the start of the new season.

West Ham fans are a demanding lot and sometimes the pressure of playing at home has really got to the younger players in the side this year.

Strikers Bobby Zamora and Marlon Harewood have both been widely criticised by Hammers fans, but have battled on, and in recent weeks the players have definitely played their best football on the road.

In their last four away games the Hammers have won at Wigan, Burnley and Stoke and only a last-minute equaliser denied them three points at Brighton.

Watford have picked up in recent weeks to pull themselves clear of the relegation battle, and it will interesting to see what plans Adrian Boothroyd has for the Hornets squad over the summer.

Heading into this game Watford are unbeaten in three but it's their overall home form that we should concentrate on, and this is where the Hammers start to look even more appealing.

The Hornets have failed to win any of their last six games at Vicarage Road – losing four and drawing the other two.

With just five wins at Vicarage Road all season they have one of the worst home records in the division and with West Ham knowing that a win should see them make the top six, they have to be fancied to get the job done.

Wolves are already going down on many people's shortlists as potential champions next season and they can finish their season on a high by seeing off Sheffield United at Molineux.

Glenn Hoddle has done a superb job since taking over from Dave Jones and he firmly has the backing of the Wolves faithful.

Wolves have moved from loitering in the bottom-half of the table up to 10th in the league, and how Hoddle would wish the season still had a month to go.

There is no doubting that Wolves are one of the form sides heading into the final weekend of the season, having not lost a league game since January 4.

In their last four games they have won three and drawn one, including seeing off promotion challengers Ipswich and Reading.

It's the quality of football that is impressing the Molineux faithful and with some money to spend in the summer there is no question that they will be near the top of the title betting for next season.

Their opponents Sheffield United dream of the Premiership year after year, but once again this has been a season of frustration.

After looking more than capable at the turn of the year of mounting a push for a top-six finish, their form has dipped in recent months.

With no win in their last four games their play-off hopes have vanished and the pressure will definitely be on Neil Warnock if they make a sluggish start next season.

While still seen as a big club at this level their lack of funds will certainly hurt them again next season, and with three down from the Premiership and big-spending Hull coming up from League One, the Blades will have to find more consistency if they are to improve next year.

At 11/10 Wolves look a cracking price to take the points and send their fans home to start planning an assault on next season's title.