GEORGE ELEK: Has a treble for this midweek’s lower league action!

After last week’s winning midweek treble thanks to two injury-time Cheltenham goals, let’s try and repeat the trick again this time around.

The first leg is just getting back on the Walsall horse, or rather taking on the slipping Saddlers, who face a trip to Carlisle this evening.

Normally this should and would have been a routine three points for the league leaders, but they are in the midst of a crisis of both quality and confidence and there may be no worse time to take on the side currently bottom of the EFL.

Mark Hughes delivered his first win as Carlisle boss last week in a dogged 1-0 win at local rivals Barrow, sparking jubilant scenes at the final whistle amongst the travelling contingent. There is plenty of quality within the squad to get them out of the mess they find themselves in, and I fancy them to take something from this game between 24th and 1st.

Then in the Championship we can back Hull to beat Plymouth Argyle. Hull’s home record is poor, winning just twice when hosting this season, but that just means we are getting a rare chance to bet the home side against the country’s poorest travellers.

There are some noises around Argyle’s improvement, and in terms of bare results there might be something in that, but the away performances are still worryingly toothless and it’s hard to see why they will cause Hull too many issues tonight. They scored with their only chance of note at Luton, and then their only shot at Manchester City in midweek, and they just won’t continue to be that clinical.

Their midweek exploits will surely have taken plenty out of them physically and Ruben Selles’ side know that a win here will go a long way to securing their Championship status for next season. Expect them to deliver.

And finally it’s a surprise that we can bet Burnley at just shy of Evs. They’re unbeaten in their last 10 away games and have won six of those. They’re ridiculous run of clean sheets in the league cannot be sustainable, but even if they are breached at Cardiff tonight they may well still have enough to win.

The addition of Marcus Edwards has offered them a new dimension in attack, and recent home games have suggested that they are turning a corner in creating more chances. They’re yet to replicate that on the road, but a trip to one of the poorest teams in the league could be just the opportunity to do so and they’re a bet at 20/21 to come away with all three points to keep the heat on Sheffield United and Leeds.

1pt treble Carlisle or draw, Hull to win and Burnley to win @ 4.42/1