The race for a Championship Play-Off place

We have already taken a look at how the relegation shake-up is pictured in the Sky Bet Championship, however there are many more questions to answer and puzzles to solve before the end of the season. Our next feature focuses on the runners and riders that are looking to seal a place in a play off position.

It would appear that Burnley, Middlesbrough, Hull City and Brighton & Hove Albion at the very least have secured a play off position. Two of those look set to finish in two of the available automatic promotion places, although Derby may feel they can gate-crash that party once again. There are a handful of clubs looking to fill the two ‘free’ play off spots.

They saw that gaining promotion via the play offs into the Premier League is the ‘best way’ of being promoted, however it means less time to prepare for the next season. The fact that three of the last five victors in the richest game in world football still remain in the top flight, suggests otherwise. We are going to take a look at the six clubs hoping to fill the remaining play off positions that are seemingly up for grabs.

Derby County

Judging by the poll we ran on Twitter recently, there are some Derby County fans that still feel they can finish in an automatic promotion place. Achievable? Yes. Realistic? Perhaps less so. All of the top four have either gained promotion out of this league or at least been in a play off campaign. So they all know what it takes to get over the line. Then again, the Derby chairman says the aim this season is not to win promotion. So explain that one! Nevertheless, no matter what Mel Morris thinks, there is a good chance Derby can gain promotion this season. They too have experience of gaining promotion via the play offs thanks to a Stephen Pearson goal all those years ago. They are certainly in the pole position to at least finish in a top six spot. They have a fix point gap to the chasing pack that want one of these prestigious play off spots. Taking a look at Derby’s fixture list, they do have some intriguing games. They face Brighton, currently a place above them in the league. They also face Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town, both hunting down a play off place. They also face all of the current bottom three too, so they’ll have a say in what happens at either end of the table. On paper, they should finish in the top six and you just feel they’ll have enough to get over the line. They won’t take anything for granted though, especially after how last season ended for them.

Sheffield Wednesday

The Owls seem to have played in patches of this season. They started relatively slowly, but then put on the afterburners and earned a place in the top six, which they have remaining in for a good few weeks now on and off. Now they are currently in an indifferent run of form, not winning any of their last four. There was even the briefest hope of them challenging a top two spot, but the focus is now firmly on finishing at the very least, 6th. They are another team that on paper you’d think would have enough to finish in one of these positions. They have the likes of Fernando Forestieri and Gary Hooper who know what it takes to be a success at this level. If they do finish in the top six, no team will want to face them ,that is for sure. After Tuesday’s trip to Brighton, Sheff Wed then have a run of five games where they have a very good chance of winning them all. Predicting this league is difficult at the best of times, but if they don’t win at least three of their next five, they’ll be very disappointed. They also face Ipswich, Derby and Cardiff, so it is perhaps those sort of games which will determine if they finish above or below sixth spot.

Cardiff City

It has been a funny old season for the Bluebirds. It really has. They are currently on a terrific run of form, and prior to that it seemed that any talk of a top six finish was way off the mark. They have only lost once in their last nine, and that came away at Middlesbrough. Their 13 game unbeaten run at the Cardiff City Stadium is also another terrific statistic they will be hoping to further improve before the end of the season. They have been playing catch-up for a while, but are now in a serious position to push for sixth spot. They still have to go to Hillsborough, and that could be the key game when it comes to deciding who makes a play off place. The funny thing is that Cardiff are managing all of this without a recognised centre forward. Lex Immers and Anthony Pilkington are doing a great job at the moment in terms of offering an outlet and goal threat for Russell Slade’s men up front. There is still always the nagging doubt that the goals could quickly dry up for them. They are one of the highest scorers in the league however, so perhaps they’ll be alright. In fact, Cardiff’s last two games are versus Sheff Wed and then Birmingham, so they’ll certainly be key games. They also face the likes of Ipswich. Reading, Burnley and Fulham, so they have one of the toughest run-ins out of all the teams pushing for a play off spot.

Birmingham City

Gary Rowett has been quick to play down his teams play off push this season to a degree. Make no mistake, he’ll be disappointed if they don’t make the top six, but he knows that next season they will be a better team regardless. They are very much building something at St Andrews, and Rowett is very much the driver of that bus. They have been in and around the top six for most of the season, so arguably they deserve to finish in the top six. Still, there are plenty of challengers for one of those precious spots. They do have a very small squad and only seem to select from 13/14 players most weeks. That has its advantages of course, especially in terms of building up momentum and team spirit. However they are only a few injuries away from being very short in terms of quality. Rowett will know that, but they have done very well up until this point knowing that anyway. They have got to this point mainly by recruiting free transfers and loan signings, so putting that up against the finance of Derby and Sheff Wed, they have had an excellent season. Burnley Cardiff, Preston and Reading are the only top half teams left to play this season, so on paper they have a great chance. However they have lost five at home to bottom half teams, so perhaps playing the top sides suit them better. It will be close, but the Blues will give everything for finish in the top six.

Ipswich Town

With Mick McCarthy as manager, you just know that Ipswich are going to finish higher up rather than lower down. He just ‘gets’ the Championship and knows how to build a team. Like Sheff Wed, Ipswich are another team which tends to go through little spells. They have won one in six Championship games prior to beating Huddersfield and Nottingham Forest 1-0 in their last two matches. In each of those games, they have been somewhat fortunate to come away with a win too. That is an obvious sign of a good team. It is all about results at this point of the season. The Tractor Boys made the play offs last season, so they have those experiences to fall back on. Their record against the better teams in this league is poor and that is why they aren’t challenging any higher up the table. They can be backed to pick up points against most of the other teams however. Of their ten league defeats, eight have come to teams in the top half, five being versus the current top five. They have Derby, Middlesbrough, Cardiff and Sheff Wed, and it is there outcome of those games which will probably determine if they make the top six or not. Are starting to get back to form at the right time however, so Ipswich are certainly a team to fear.

Preston North End

As unlikely as it might be, we just cannot completely rule Preston North End out of the play off picture. The fact of the matter is that they are just six points off the final play off position. The reality is that they’ll need to go on a good run and hope a few of the teams above them have a wobble. Stranger things have happened. All season long Preston have been a team that is generally hard to beat. Practically all of their wins have come by a one goal margin, so clearly they are a team that plays to their strengths. They regularly play five at the back and prove very difficult to break down. That is a quality which makes them extremely awkward to play against. There is absolutely no pressure on them to finish in a play off place, especially after they only won promotion from League One last season, also through the play offs. They haven’t won their last two, but won four in a row prior to that, so they are capable of putting a run together. Other than Burnley, Middlesbrough and Birmingham, the Deepdale club face teams with either nothing to play for or are struggling at the wrong end of the table. Probably means nothing, but they are still in an excellent position considering the circumstances. A top half finish would be an excellent season, but their aim was to avoid relegation, and they achieved that some time ago.

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