An in-depth preview of the weekend's action in the npower Championship and League One.

Neil Warnock has endured a busy couple of weeks in the transfer market and while his shrewd dealings could be enough for QPR to follow through on their aspirations by clinching automatic promotion at the end of the season, the injection of new blood could have a dizzying effect initially.

As such, we see sufficient value in the 11/5 about Hull Citybeating the leaders at the KC Stadium on Saturday.

The Londoners have lost Patrick Agyemang, Jamie Mackie and Kyle Walker in quick succession but Warnock reacted swiftly to bring in a couple of stellar replacements with Wayne Routledge and Ishmael Miller rocking up at Loftus Road from the Premier League.

And Warnock was quick to claim that Rangers had rediscovered their 'zest' when edging past Coventry in west London last weekend but we reckon the optimistic old-timer might be jumping the gun a bit in a bid to convince his players that everything should be plain sailing from hereon in.

However, Hull have promotion credentials of their own - albeit more likely via the play-offs - and they present a much bigger obstacle than the odds appear to suggest.

The Tigers were below par when we backed them at Reading last weekend but they still managed to come away with a draw against a side with a proud home record.

According to boss Nigel Pearson, the result at the Madejski was testimony to the character of his players who masked their lack of quality on the day with a fair helping of spirit and togetherness and the former Leicester boss seems rather chuffed by his team's increasing ability to stay in games that get on top of them.

With six points to make up on the top six over the remaining 19 games, Pearson will be demanding better from his players when they have possession of the ball and they're certainly capable of greater heights based on their burst of good form before Christmas combined with the calibre of their January additions

Matty Fryatt, Aaron Mclean and James Chester have been snapped up with the funds made available by new owners and those players should be much further along the integration process than the R's new recruits when the two sides lock horns here.

Meanwhile, dropping down into League One, Chris Powell made the ideal start to life in management with victory in his first game against Plymouth last weekend and now hisCharlton side look too good to resist at 7/4 for the trip to Rochdale.

The thought process behind this bet isn't directly to do with Powell but more to do with the fact the Addicks boast greater individual quality than their hosts.

Dale will consider themselves to be in good form but we've highlighted a few mitigating circumstances about their resurgence in recent weeks and while confidence may be on the rise, this fixture could serve as a sobering reminder of where they belong in the overall scheme of things.

As a club legend, Powell was a sensible appointment for the Londoners because the club has become rife with negativity in recent years and they badly needed a leader who would have the total backing of the supporters from the off.

Moreover, Powell is someone who everybody speaks highly of as a person, an honest pro with a certain warmth about him, and while those traits are no guarantee of success in management, they will certainly help him get off on the ideal footing with the dressing room.

So if you're prepared to buy into the idea that the feel-good factor in the visiting camp cancels out the confidence of the hosts, then you have to say that Charlton are the bet, by tradition, by budget or by any other bigger-picture measure you care to mention.

And finally, after doing a thorough job of convincing ourselves not to take Bournemouth lightly in the wake of Eddie Howe's departure, we now find ourselves opposing them without much option, simply because of a price that needs some serious justification.

Plymouth are 11/5 to beat the Cherries at Home Park and while we acknowledge the financial difficulties that have led to a mini-exodus of key players in recent weeks, that's simply overstepping the mark in our opinion.

The Pilgrims have taken some notable scalps this season with Southampton, Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield have all coming a cropper and while off-the-field setbacks have taken their toll on any ideas of a serious promotion push, they're still capable of raising their game when the mood takes them.

Indeed, it seems as though the one outcome you don't want to back is the draw because each test is increasingly being viewed in isolation by Peter Reid and his players, a feeling best summed up by only two stalemates in the last 16 outings.

So with a straight choice between the away side at shorter than 6/4 or Argyle at bigger than 2/1, we'll happily plump for the latter.