BAGGIES CAN PUT THE PRESSURE ON

West Bromwich Albion have the chance to close in on table-topping Newcastle United as they are the first of the top two to play on Saturday.

The Baggies can put pressure on the leaders with victory at home to Preston North End in their 3pm kick-off ahead of Newcastle's 5.20pm start away to managerless Bristol City.

A month ago West Brom were outside the automatic promotion places but four wins from their last five have seen them open up an eight-point gap above their nearest challengers Nottingham Forest, a position further secured by their 2-0 win at Swansea City in midweek.

Boss Roberto Di Matteo is delighted that his side's destiny in their own hands with just nine games remaining.

He told www.wba.co.uk: "We have put ourselves in a good position now and have worked very hard to be in this position.

"Our destiny is in our own hands. It is up to us whether we manage to push on and stay where we are until it counts at the end of the season.

"Every game will be difficult to win. We just have to focus on the next one and try to do our best in that one."

For Preston, Saturday's trip to the Hawthorns presents them with another opportunity to end a run without a victory on the road that goes back to their 2-0 success at Peterborough United on January 26 - and that is their only away victory since October.

They let slip a two-goal lead to draw at home to Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday night, just three days after going 3-0 up against Nottingham Forest only to edge home 3-2.

But boss Darren Ferguson is hoping his 13th-placed side can continue their good form against teams in the promotion race as they embark on two successive away games.

"We go to West Bromwich Albion and then Middlesbrough but we're only looking at West Brom at the moment, and they have been in the main really consistent all season," he told PNE Player.

"We know it is going to be a difficult game but we go there with an element of confidence having won our last two games against top-six opposition in Cardiff and Nottingham Forest."

RELEGATION BATTLE HOTS UP

Relegation rivals Scunthorpe United and Plymouth Argyle meet at Glanford Park on Saturday in a game that neither side dare lose.

The consequences are too much to bear with the home team currently sitting third from bottom of the Coca-Cola Championship, embedded in the relegation zone on goal difference.

They host a Plymouth outfit a further four points back and with both teams having ten games remaining the time is now for them to make their push for safety.

Scunthorpe lost 3-0 at Newcastle United on Wednesday night and their boss Nigel Adkins has described Saturday's game as his side's biggest of the season as they look to avoid an immediate return to League 1 again.

He is calling for everyone - players and supporters - to make sure they are pulling together in the right direction.

Adkins told www.scunthorpe-united.co.uk: "What we have to do is make sure that everyone is together as one for the remaining ten games and that starts on Saturday.

"They are all big games and we have to be together at it. If you allow the camp to be infiltrated with negative thoughts or a negative attitude then that passes on to everybody else.

"Your body language has got to be right, your attitude has got to be right, your belief has got to be right and then come the day of reckoning - when the league season finishes - you can say all you want but until then everybody has to have a right go for each other."

Plymouth go into Saturday's game in danger of being cut adrift if they don't start picking up results on a more regular basis.

They are boosted by Tuesday night's 3-2 victory over Bristol City, a game in which they showed great strength of character to bounce back and take the points having seen a 2-0 lead eroded by the visitors.

That was only their third Championship win of 2010 and they know now is the time to push on.

Head coach Paul Mariner told the Plymouth Herald: "The lads know what's in front of them, and how important this game is.

"It's part of our job to make sure there are no shocks for the players tomorrow when they go out at three o'clock.

"We have got to do exactly what we did against Coventry, and, to a certain degree, what we did against Bristol City.

"It starts from the front. It always does. If you look at the great teams over the years, the defensive work that the front two do is the key to the success of the team."

Elsewhere in the relegation battle, bottom side Peterborough United travel to third-placed Nottingham Forest with an eight-point gap to make up on the teams in the safe positions with just nine games left.

The first of those teams outside the bottom three, Crystal Palace, are on the same points as Scunthorpe but edge ahead with a superior goal difference.

They travel to Blackpool while Sheffield Wednesday, just a point clear of the Eagles and the Iron, are at home to 18th-placed Derby County, themselves not clear of the relegation dog-fight just yet.

ON THE BOX

Two Coca-Cola Championship games sit nicely into the weekend's TV schedules and both will have an impact on the promotion race.

League leaders Newcastle United are away to Bristol City in the first match, which kicks off at 5.20pm on Saturday.

It's been quite a week at Ashton Gate with the departure of previous boss Gary Johnson after a four-and-a-half-year spell in which he led the Robins from League One to the verge of the Premier League.

But this season hasn't quite gone according to plan and with City 15th in the table the change has been made.

Caretaker Manager Keith Millen called Johnson's departure a "sad day" for the club but says the focus is now on the visit of Newcastle.

He told www.bcfc.co.uk: "The Newcastle game is one everyone in Bristol has been looking forward to all season and it that sense it is a good game to have.

"We are hoping to have a full house here in front of the Sky TV cameras. Hopefully the players will put in a performance on the pitch and the fans will get behind them."

Newcastle boss Chris Hughton feels the departure of Johnson could make the Robins something of an unknown quantity come Saturday evening.

"They might come out fighting and want to do it for the manager who has just left, or they might do it for the caretaker who has been left in a difficult situation," he told www.nufc.co.uk.

"Either way we're expecting a tough game because they know they're going up against the league's top side live on television.

"We have to rise to that and play our own game and hopefully continue with what is a tremendous run we're enjoying right now."

An inspired performance by Bristol City goalkeeper Dean Gerken earned his side a 0-0 draw in the reverse fixture at St James Park in October.

Gerken produced several fine saves and Newcastle also hit the woodwork three times as they failed to score at home for the first time this season.

You have to wait until Sunday for the second televised clash as the Walkers Stadium hosts the M69 derby between fourth-placed Leicester City and Coventry City who are in tenth (2pm kick-off).

The Foxes have enjoyed a tremendous first season back in the Championship under boss Nigel Pearson after their one-year sojourn in League One and look well set to go on and secure a play-off place.

They have continued to be hard to beat, losing just the once since January, and on Tuesday night they ground out an important 1-0 success at Crystal Palace.

Player-coach Chris Powell told the Leicester Mercury that there is still a lot to overcome for the Foxes this season.

He said: "There are a lot games coming up and it is up to us to deal with each game and each situation as it arises.

"They are big games against the likes of Coventry, Derby and West Brom. But games against Reading and QPR are also very important.

"We have learned quickly this season but our education is not over. We still have to deal with 10 more games."

Over at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry still hold hopes of breaking in to the top-six and have a five-point gap to make up ahead of the weekend, although that could well increase by the time they travel the short distance to Leicester on Sunday.

Their ambitions suffered a setback on Tuesday night as they went down to a controversial stoppage-time penalty that saw them beaten 2-1 at home to Cardiff City, the team currently sixth in the table.

But they believe their season is still well and truly alive with nine games still to play.

Central defender James McPake says he and his team-mates are refusing to give up on their top-six hopes.

He told the Coventry Telegraph: "We were already looking forward to the Leicester game in the dressing room after Tuesday's match.

"It is on TV and there will be an extra edge to if because it is a derby and we want to go and get the three points.

"The fans will be there in numbers and they have been great recently and really helped us, and hopefully they can keep getting behind us because it is far from over."

The last meeting between the two sides in October finished 1-1 when Martyn Waghorn cancelled out Sammy Clingan's first-half strike.

For the full list of televised games please click here

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