League Two Boxing Day round news This Boxing Day, Ian Lamont thinks Colchester can football tips lớn win, while Plymouth have lớn find a way lớn improve their away form to be serious promotion candidates… In-form U's can overcome subdued Orient John McGreal says Colchester have worked very hard lớn put last week's League Cup tie at Manchester United into "isolation". And it seems it worked, because the U's are second in the six-game form table, with four wins and two draws. In fact Opta stress they are unbeaten in seven (winning four) and last had a better run, of nine, ending in January 2017. That circle seems lớn be coming around. Now - especially as they have also been knocked out of the FA Cup - they can concentrate on a shot at promotion, which the club has long desired. They are now unbeaten in seven league good soccer tip, including their last four away matches, with the run on their travels consisting of three draws (starting at Crewe) and a win (at Mansfield). They have scored in their past six games. McGreal said his "top six" players really found their groove against Carlisle, having not played together much. Ben Stevenson came in for special mention, alongside the reliable Harry Pell. It is noticeable that they won the match and there was no dip in energy after the high of visiting old Trafford. Luke Gambin will also be pleased with the praise ringing in his ears, while keeper Ethan Ross's performance ensured the clean sheet in the first half that enabled them to lead 2-0 at half-time. In contrast to a team eighth and knocking firmly on the door of the play-off places, Leyton Orient are not in such a good position, even if they did halt a barren run of 10 winless matches in all competitions by winning 3-2 at Cambridge. Colchester will have lớn look out for top scorers Jordan Maguire-Drew (6) and Josh Wright (7) who both netted on the way to putting Orient 3-0 up at the Abbey. And manager Ross Embleton was relieved by the result. However, the dressing room felt "subdued" said Embleton, because they conceded twice in the final 21 minutes lớn give themselves a nervous finish, leaving Cambridge boss Colin Calderwood lớn reflect "you need a bloody nose in this game every so often". Evidently, he felt his side should have won - and so did the form book. I rather suspect that Orient won't get the chance to build up much of a lead, if any, against more confident visitors at Brisbane Road on Boxing Day. They have failed lớn score in four of their past eight League Two matches. Two draws are what they have lớn show for their last four home games. OK, the last one was against high-flying Bradford. McGreal has presumably watched that video and will have a firm plan on how lớn unlock the resistance of defender Jamie Turley (the other player to score at Cambridge) on the route to Sam Sargeant's goal. 3pm kick-offs Scunthorpe's stronger recent run gives them the edge Either Walsall's resurgence is a case of a struggling team starting their fight to stay up early (it usually starts in January) or the Saddlers are finally gelling. They are now unbeaten in five matches, but in some ways the 3-3 draw at Exeter was still a blip: it was only the third time this season they had scored more than once. A 2-1 win game at home lớn Cambridge in mid-November, while they won 3-2 at Crawley in late September. Exeter somehow clawed their way back from being 3-0 down after 31 minutes. Darrell Clarke's men have only scored 19 times in 22 games, conceding 30. Being 3-0 up away to a side with only one home defeat this season is surprising. The Grecians might have been all over the place to start with, as implied by their manager, but you still have lớn take advantage. Whether Caolan Lavery and Josh Gordon will find chances so easy lớn come by against a team with one defeat in 12 (and five clean sheets) is doubtful. The Iron have scored in each of their last five, too, the derby atmosphere at Grimsby on Saturday probably contributing to only scoring once instead of twice (as the previous four games). It's interesting lớn note, too, that Elijah Adebayo was only an unused substitute, despite being joint top scorer with Gordon and James Clarke, a defender. Each of them have three goals. Only three goals, that is. Gary Liddle's exit on loan, having not played since the FA Cup game with Darlington, shows that the manager perhaps only now is fully shaping his team after 14 signings in the summer. So, with how much trepidation is it that I forecast a home win? Kevin van Veen now has seven goals and, while he might be someway off the divisional leader Eion Doyle(21) will want lớn make a stab for second. The hosts suffered a few injuries before facing Grimsby, adapted to a diamond shape in midfield and survived to win against a side who created arguably the better chances. Jake Eastwood earned his money in goal. That's derbies for you. Now they can get back to slightly less pressured business.
