EFL 2/1 Acca – Gab Sutton

Southampton parted company with head coach Will Still at the start of the week, after a 2-0 home loss to Preston North End left the ante-post promotion favourites languishing in 20th, but the response has been positive.

Under Tonda Eckert’s interim stewardship, the Saints won 2-1 at QPR in midweek to climb one place and close the gap to the top six to eight points with the most favourable fixture of the season on paper coming their way this Saturday.

As such, they have a great opportunity to welcome in the new manager with back-to-back league victories, and the task of launching a promotion challenge seem not quite so far away – after all, from a chance creation perspective, they’ve been one of the top performers in the league all season.

Visitors Sheffield Wednesday make the trip off the back of draws with West Brom and Norwich, but they’ve lost eight of their first 14 games due to dire off-field circumstances that are showing some signs of a resolution – but not in time to save their on-field fortunes.

Bolton have begun to convert draws into wins. Steven Schumacher’s side began with just one win in their opening six league games, often sharing the spoils having created more and better chances than their opponents, but they’ve since found that ruthless streak.

The Trotters have won five of their last eight league games, a run that’s seen them climb from the bottom half up to seventh, and with a great chance of entering the promotion equation.

The Lancashire outfit have an exceptional wide talent in Amario Cozier-Duberry, with the England youth prospect having managed four goals and four assists on loan from Brighton, conjuring moments of delightful quality.

Visitors Port Vale can only envy such stardust: Darren Moore’s men are the division’s second-lowest goalscorers, having sold marksman Lorent Tolaj to Plymouth Argyle late in the summer window, and find themselves in the bottom four.

Chesterfield responded reasonably well to October’s 6-2 drubbing at Colchester, which dented their promotion aspirations, accruing a steady five points from their next three games – with only an injury-time Tranmere equaliser last time out denying them a healthier return.

That day in Essex aside, Paul Cook’s team have been solid and industrious so far this season, losing the joint-fewest games in the division; they’re hard to beat when Kyle McFadzean and Tom Naylor are present in defence and midfield to offer their higher-level nous.

The Spireites still have an extra gear to find going forward and can dominate games in-possession for larger spells than they perhaps have been, but they’ll accumulate a strong points haul this year.

As such, the Derbyshire outfit are rightly favourites for the hosting of Accrington Stanley, who have lost seven of their opening 14 league games.