According to every English Literature student’s favourite poet TS Eliot, April is very much considered to be the cruellest month. To be honest, we can’t help chortling at the fact that TS Eliot is an anagram of “toilets”, but he could have been onto something with this April malarkey. For Leagues One and Two, this is the final week of the regular season and there will be some cruel blows dealt over the coming days.
But for a handful of teams in League One, it’s now all about next weekend’s fixtures in the races for promotion and relegation. The equations are becoming increasingly simple; soon we’ll know who we’re getting rid of and who we’re being lumbered with in 2013-4… Plenty of issues remain unresolved and it’s just a few days before we definitively know who we’re saying hello too. And goodbye. Or something.
League One:
At the top end of the table, the only question that remains to be asked (if you feel like it) is who will be going up automatically. Bournemouth are there already, so there’s just a single place left and, funnily enough, the two contenders play each other next week down at Peter Griffin Park. Brentford have to beat Donny to overhaul the two point gap; Rovers can park the bus and settle for a 0-0 draw. #tense
The playoff teams are decided – it’s just who will be paired against who, so we’ll move on to the bottom where there is one relegation spot up for grabs. Scunthorpe are doing their best to ensure it isn’t theirs, but it might be too little too late. They need to win, hope Colchester lose and get a three-goal swing. Crawley v Hartlepool and Carlisle v Colchester… could the Great Escape be on? #gripping
League Two
The Gills are coming up as champions and, barring a mathematical miracle, will have Port Vale in tow. Rotherham’s goal difference should mean that Burton Albion cannot aspire to automatic promotion, leaving it to just Cheltenham to contest third place. Rotherham are at home to Aldershot and Cheltenham host Bradford, and it’s difficult to see how the third spot won’t be Rotherham’s. #inevitable
Again, the playoffs are sorted in terms of the ladder being pulled up so onto the fascinating battle for survival at the foot of the division. The Shots are as good as down (see above), so it’s one from six to go down. AFC Wimbledon are in pole position but have the benefit of a home game against Fleetwood Mac. Neither side has won in five games, and a point will be no good to the Dons. #needy
Others in contention are Barnet (Northampton A), Dagenham & Redbridge (York H), York (Dagenham & Redbridge A); Torquay (Brizzle Rovers H) and Plymouth (Rochdale A). It is a veritable feast of the not very goods against the not particularly bothereds. If Wimbledon fail to win, it’s all academic but is this finally the year Barnet get flushed out of the League? No. Probably not. It never is the year. #bah
Championship
With the benefit of an extra week, we’ll probably be kept hanging on to find out where we’ll be going next season. There are still two relegation spaces awaiting and 10 sides who could fill them. Millwall and Blackburn have games in hand and that will be enough to get them out of danger; they play each other this week and a Millwall win will ensure Championship survival for the Londoners. #inreach
At the moment, it is looking like Wolves and Barnsley. But they are level with the Posh and it’s all liable to change. All three have home fixtures next week, before Wolves and Posh go to teams currently in the playoff places on the final day. Barnsley’s last day showdown pits them against Huddersfield (A), who might still need points to survive themselves. It’ll be a close one… #unpredictable
