Pools tips and best bets for weekend of March 11-12

Ten draws: Bournemouth v West Ham, Aston Villa v Sheffield Wednesday, Preston v Reading, Charlton v Walsall, Chesterfield v Shrewsbury, Mansfield v Plymouth, Notts County v Hartlepool, Celtic v Rangers, St Johnstone v Dundee.

Best draws: Aston Villa v Sheffield Wednesday, Preston v Reading, Mansfield v Plymouth, Notts County v Hartlepool, Celtic v Rangers.

Best weekend away bets: Manchester City, Swansea, Bradford City, Portsmouth, Blackpool, Falkirk.

Best weekend home bets: Everton, Liverpool, Cardiff, Wigan, Wolves, Port Vale, Crewe, Leyton Orient, Hearts, Arbroath.

Pick of the draws: Aston Villa's number of draws in the Championship (12) this season has put paid to their hopes of a play-off place and I can't see them getting more than a point from the visit of Sheffield Wednesday, who deserve to be in promotion contention. Manager Jaap Stam has improved Reading to such an extent that they will be expecting at least a draw at Preston, who are among the Championship's better teams. Plymouth, second in League Two, have had some strange results lately, none stranger than their 3-0 midweek home defeat by Blackpool. However, the Pilgrims are into double figures with away victories and I believe they'll nick a point at Mansfield. Consecutive home wins have given Hartlepool a big boost in their battle to avoid relegation and they can break their losing away sequence by sharing the spoils at Notts County, who are also struggling. Celtic, runaway leaders in the Scottish Premiership, are overwhelming favourites to win the Old Firm derby but I've a hunch that Rangers, 6-0 victors over Hamilton in the Scottish Cup quarter-finals last weekend, will find something extra and deny their bitter rivals.

Away days: Despite being held to a goalless draw by Stoke, Manchester City are looking better with each passing week and are strongly fancied to knock Middlesbrough out of the FA Cup on Saturday. After their last-gasp win over Burnley last weekend, Swansea are five points clear of the Premier League relegation zone and I'm backing them to come away from second bottom Hull with another three points. Coventry, rock bottom of League One, sacked manager Russell Slade this week but I doubt whether that will affect the expected outcome of their match against Bradford City, who will probably add to their seven away wins this season. Portsmouth, like more than a few sides in League Two, are happier on the road than on their own ground. They won 2-0 at Crawley in midweek to put them in the automatic promotion places and can register another victory at Colchester. Blackpool were surprise 3-0 winners at Plymouth in midweek and I'm backing them to follow that up by beating Wycombe. Falkirk, the nearest challengers to Hibernian in the Scottish Championship, seem a sound bet at lowly Ayr.

Homes sweet homes: A 1-0 midweek away win at Birmingham has breathed new life into Wigan's hopes of avoiding relegation from the Championship. They are worth a wager against Nottingham Forest, who rarely strike fear into anybody. Port Vale gained a merited point in a 1-1 draw at Southend last Saturday. They host Swindon, who are in just as much trouble near the foot of League One and I expect Vale to make ground advantage count. Leyton Orient are a League Two club in crisis and off the pitch but they gave a spirited response last weekend by defeating bottom side Newport 4-0 away. They host mid-table Grimsby on Saturday and my money is on them winning again.