Pools tips and best bets for weekend of February 8-9

Ten draws: Barnsley v Sheffield Wednesday, Millwall v West Brom, Nottingham Forest v Leeds, Stoke v Charlton, Wimbledon v Fleetwood, Shrewsbury v MK Dons, Colchester v Plymouth, Salford v Crawley, Stenhousemuir v Cowdenbeath, Boston v York.

Best draws: Millwall v West Brom, Nottingham Forest v Leeds, Stoke v Charlton, Stenhousemuir v Cowdenbeath, Boston v York.

Weekend's best bets: Six aways: Fulham, Rotherham (Friday), Portsmouth, Mansfield, Cheltenham, Airdrieonians.

Weekend's best bets: Ten homes: Everton, Brentford, Huddersfield, Bristol City (Friday), Blackpool, Coventry, Wycombe, Exeter, Leyton Orient, Ayr.

Pick of the draws: Millwall made Leeds work hard for their recent 3-2 victory at Elland Road and they'll probably give Championship leaders West Bromwich Albion just as tough a test at The Den on Sunday. Promotion contenders Nottingham Forest and Leeds both had setbacks last weekend, Forest losing at Birmingham and Leeds beaten at home by struggling Wigan. There is little between them and it's difficult to pick a winner here. Stoke's hopes of avoiding relegation took a heavy blow when they crashed 4-0 at Derby last Friday. That may adversely affect them against Charlton, who also need the points. Although Cowdenbeath are third in Scottish League Two, their away record is poor. I think they'll be held by Stenhousemuir, who won 3-0 at Annan last weekend. York moved closer to the top of the Vanarama League North last Saturday but they have a fight on their hands at Boston, who are one place below them.

Away days: With West Brom and Leeds stumbling, Fulham's hopes of automatic promotion to the Premier League have been revived. They can strengthen their case by winning at mid-table Blackburn. League One leaders Rotherham show no signs of flagging and are recommended in the Friday fixture at Lincoln, who provided Southend with a rare victory last Saturday. Portsmouth, eight consecutive wins in all competitions, look a sure thing at relegation-threatened Tranmere. I believe Mansfield, 21st in League Two, will just edge it at second-from-bottom Morecambe while Cheltenham, back in the play-off places, should have too much for ailing Scunthorpe. Airdrieonians, in Scottish League One, are more effective away and will be confident of prevailing at Dumbarton.

Homes sweet homes: Everton's comeback from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Watford last Saturday will have bolstered their morale and they can build on that by defeating goal-shy Crystal Palace. Lowly Huddersfield gave a good account of themselves in their Championship defeat at Fulham and I'm tipping them for all three points against Queens Park Rangers, who appear to have hit a wall. It's Scottish Cup weekend and if you're looking for an upset it could happen at Championship high-flyers  Ayr, who I expect to trouble St Johnstone, in the bottom half of the Premiership.

Pools info: Five of my draws were correct last weekend: Leicester v Chelsea (2-2), West Ham v Brighton (3-3), Preston v Swansea (1-1), Mansfield v Carlisle (2-2) and Port Vale v Salford (1-1).