GEORGE ELEK: Looking for value on a Tuesday night of lower league action!

Apologies for last weekend’s column which was an NR. You may assume I scoped dirty after a trip to The Hawthorns to watch my team Oxford get swept aside by West Brom, but the truth is just that I’ve been re-routed to a midweek entry. Nobody needed to read me running the rule over Leeds again anyway.

There is a shrivelled docket of games on Tuesday night, consisting just of those that have been moved from a previous date, but there’s enough meat on this bone to throw up a value looking treble at 3/1 to keep us interested.

We’ll kick-off in the Championship where we have one of those ‘can both teams lose?’ games between Stoke and Middlesbrough. In very recent history both bosses here have been seen as Premier League managers in waiting, but neither Mark Robins or Michael Carrick are currently doing much for their reputations as being two of the very few genuinely good managers to play under Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.

For Stoke relegation remains a very imminent threat, especially as their performances don’t suggest that many points sit on their horizon. A 4-2 defeat at Norwich means it’s just two wins in their last nine, but BTTS has copped in five of their last six as they have little trouble from an attacking point of view but are a shambles defensively.

It’s a similar story for Boro, who’ve lost six of their last seven but have scored in all but one of those. They’ve also managed to score in all of their last 13 away games whilst only winning four of those, so the 4/6 about BTTS in what could be a goal-fest between two abject sides at the back who have no trouble creating chances looks more than fair.

Into League One and Huddersfield’s defensive crisis means we have to get against them in their trip to Wigan. Now the hosts aren’t particularly good, winning just one of their last six, but they generally do ok in home games against those who aren’t the best in the league, and it’d be hard to put Huddersfield in that bracket at the moment despite their position in the table.

Since selling Michal Helik January, The Terriers have been dealt blow after blow with regards to injuries to defenders meaning they come into this one with just one fit centre-back, who himself has just an hour of football in his legs since the turn of the year.

Even prior to this injury crisis, Mike Duff’s side were in poor form and a home defeat to struggling Peterborough suggests all isn’t well. They’re too short at 6/4 to win on the road here so Wigan or draw goes into the multi.

Finally in League Two runaway leaders Walsall are 11/10 at in-form Cheltenham Town which is also too short. Their blip may look like it’s over after two wins, but Saturday’s was hugely in thanks to a red card shown to a Morecambe player at 0-0 which swung the game in their favour.

They were in no way the better side when 11v11 against a side currently starting down the barrel at a return to non-league, and their win over Chesterfield is also ageing poorly given their run of form. In Cheltenham they have an opponent bang in-form, winning five of their last six home games and losing just three of their last 14.

Cheltenham should have enough to avoid defeat here in a game where the visitors would be happy enough with a point, so a home win or draw is the final piece of this puzzle which comes in just shy of 9/4.

1pt treble BTTS Yes in Stoke v Boro, Wigan or Draw and Cheltenham or Draw @ 3.17/1