Roker Riches: Wickham Set To Shine As The Royals Return?

Week Sixteen Recap

Whilst the rest of our tipping team struggled with their selections at the weekend Dan managed to extend his lead at the top of the table adding a further ten quid to his kitty having backed Chelsea to win in the Asian handicap market. Simon Walsh's scattergun approach to selecting accumulators again failed to bring home the bacon, although I am learning a lot about teams in leagues that I had never even heard of previously, so at least its proving to be of some worth.

Thankfully the re-arranged Reading fixture grants the lads a chance to recoup their losses, so onto our selections for tonights game:

Karl Jones

Much like Sunderland, I desperately, DESPERATELY need to start winning, which is why my selection may be somewhat of a surprise. Connor Wickham is expected to lead the line again and has impressed since returning to the first team picture. In a game where the pressure of winning will be huge, what better way for the young pretender to capitalise on this run of game time than by scoring the winning goal?

• Connor Wickham to score first and Sunderland to win 1-0 - 40/1 - £2 Stake

David Boyle

Tonight's re-arranged fixture has proved to be a difficult one to call from a betting perspective. I have been greatly encouraged by O'Neill's fighting talk in the press and whilst tonight is a game that we should be winning I simply can't recommend backing the outright win at measly odds of around 21/20! However, much like Karl, I believe there is value in backing young Connor Wickham to find the back of the net. Reports from the club seem to suggest that Steven Fletcher is not expected to be fit in time for tonight's game which will again give Wickham an opportunity to make an impression and he is available at a fantastic price to score at anytime with Paddy Power.

• Connor Wickham to score anytime - 12/5 - £5 Stake