Gary McAllister's men would have finished second (one point behind Swansea) and won promotion to the Championship were it not for the deduction and I can't see anything stopping promotion this time around.

McAllister has improved the squad during the close season and with the likes of Jermaine Beckford banging in the goals, few teams will be able to cope with them.

Only Leicester City (11/2) stand out as a clear rival to Leeds and the signing of Bulgarian international Aleksander Tunchev will do their push no harm.

Bookies think there's a chance Milton Keynes (14/1) Dons and Peterborough (12/1) may secure second successive promotions.

I'd steer clear of both, particularly the Dons who will sorely miss former boss Paul Ince.

Finally, how about a small punt on the Cobblers winning promotion? The play-offs are a possibility for Stuart Gray and at 12/1 (Ladbrokes), I'll be having a flutter.

Cobblers backed for winning start
FOOTBALL: Bookies expect the Cobblers to get off to a winning start when they take on Cheltenham in their Coca-Cola League One opener at Sixfields tomorrow.

A poor Robins side are favourites for relegation, which makes Town odds-on with all firms (10/11 best price) to take all three
points. Cheltenham are 3/1, while the draw is 5/2.

Drogba could pip favourites
FOOTBALL: With Cristiano Ronaldo certain to miss the first few weeks of the new season and Fernando Torres likely to be rested on a regular basis, it's worth looking elsewhere for value when betting on this campaign's top goalscorer.

Love him or hate him, backing Didier Drogba (8/1) at roughly double the price of the two market leaders could be the way to
go.

The Ivorian top-scored in the Premier League two seasons ago and he'll no doubt receive brilliant service at Chelsea this season.

Jermain Defoe is definitely worth a small punt at 25/1. Defoe scored eight in 12 for Pompey last season and the arrival of Peter Crouch should boost that figure further.

Bet of the week
Back Leeds United to win Coca-Cola League One at 7/2 with Coral.