Championship playoffs: Watford and Bournemouth have clinched promotion, but who will join them in the Premier League?
With one match to go before the playoffs, we analyse the sides in the running
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Your support makes all the difference.Amid the goals and drama of a stellar penultimate round of Championship fixtures two sides (barring a 19-goal swing, as some have pointed out...) confirmed their automatic promotion to the Premier League. Both did it in fine style, Watford dispatching Brighton 2-0 on Saturday lunchtime before watching their promotion rivals Middlesbrough lose a thriller to Fulham, and Bournemouth beating Bolton 3-0 on Monday night.
Now, with the top two decided and just one round of fixtures remaining, our attention turns to the drama of the playoffs. Here is your guide to the sides in with a chance of triumphing at Wembley Stadium on May 25:
The near miss: Middlesbrough
3rd - 84 points
One of the football league's persistent myths is that you don't want to finish third, the logic being that the side that just misses out on automatic promotion is too disconsolate and drained from the promotion push to be at their best in the playoffs. The statistics, however, contradict this theory: in the past nine seasons, the winners of the Championship playoffs have been the third-placed side on five occasions. Boro's 4-3 defeat to Fulham, which denied them second place, will have taken its toll, but Aitor Karanka's side have the quality to count themselves as the side to beat.
Form: LWWLWLWWWL (18 points in the last 10 matches)
The in-form side: Norwich
4th - 83 points
Momentum often proves decisive in the playoffs, and Norwich have this in abundance - only the two automatically-promoted sides have claimed more points in the past ten games. In that period their only defeat came against Middlesbrough, while a miserly defence marshalled by Russell Martin has shipped just eight goals. Alex Neil has certainly silenced the doubters after the inexperienced Scot took the reigns at Carrow Road in January.
Form: WDDWWWWWLD (21 points in the last 10 matches)
The dark horse: Ipswich Town
5th - 78 points
Mick McCarthy's side flirted with automatic promotion around Christmas, but appear to have recovered from an early-year slump at just the right time to win three of their past four games. In Daryl Murphy, the Tractor Boys possess the division's most prolific striker, but there is still work to be done - they need at least a point at Blackburn on Saturday to set up the possibility of a mouthwatering semi-final clash with East Anglia rivals Norwich.
Form: DLWWDLWWDW (18 points in the last 10 matches)
Clinging on: Derby County
6th - 77 points
In the long, congested Championship season, a team always seems to have the season that Derby County have experienced. Last year's losing playoff finalists flew out of the blocks and were still top of the table at the start of March, but a horror run of just two wins in the past twelve games has somehow thrown even their hopes of making the playoffs into jeopardy. A point at home to Reading on Saturday would do it (unless Brentford win their game by... 16 goals) but the Rams need to regain some of their scintillating early-season form to have any chance of going one better than last season.
Form: DDLLDWDWDD (12 points in the last 10 matches)
In the wings: Brentford and Wolves
7th and 8th - 75 points
If Derby slip up, or Ipswich lose at Ewood Park, Brentford and Wolves are waiting eagerly in the wings, and both have eminently winnable final home fixtures in the form of relegation-battling Wigan and Millwall respectively. For either side, sneaking into the top six would be a bonus after performing above expectations all season and, with the pressure off, neither can be dismissed.
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