As we enter a two-week break in the Championship, there appears to be a straight scrap between up to five clubs to see who will join Neil Warnock’s QPR (1/8 Outright) in the Premier League next season.
Here we will take a look at the teams we feel are in the running for the second automatic promotion place and assess their chances of making it to the top flight in the final nine matches.
NORWICH
Paul Lambert’s Canaries (11/8 promotion) remain in second spot – nine points behind runaway leaders and champions-elect QPR – thanks to a hard-fought 1-1 draw at Hull City on Saturday.
They are unbeaten in eight league games now and sit one point ahead of Swansea in third spot.
Norwich have a winnable game against struggling Scunthorpe after the international break, before a six-pointer against Swansea at the Liberty Stadium on April 9.
That match could go a long way to deciding which of these sides will be mixing it with the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal next season.
SWANSEA
Brendan Rodgers’s men (6/5 Promotion) were the in-form team going into March but, like many of the teams around them, they have stuttered their way through this month.
The Swans had only managed one point from a possible nine before getting back to winning ways courtesy of a crucial 3-2 win against promotion rivals Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
In addition to the home clash against Norwich next month, they have trips to relegation-haunted Preston and Sheffield United still to play, which they will no doubt pin-point for maximum points.
CARDIFF
Dave Jones’s Bluebirds (9/5 Promotion) are stuck in a sticky patch at the moment having secured just two points from their last four league games.
Their defensive frailties were exploited in the last two games as Barnsley and Millwall both grabbed late equalisers to deny them maximum hauls which would have put them level on points with Norwich in second spot.
If the south Wales side can rediscover their form after the international break they have arguably one of the best run-ins, with games against five of the current bottom eight sides to play plus a mouth-watering home clash against QPR.
LEEDS UNITED
Simon Grayson’s men (4/1 Promotion) were ticking along nicely until Saturday as they went into the Yorkshire derby at relegation battlers Sheffield United with seven points from a possible nine in the bag. However, a 2-0 defeat at Bramall Lane and a straight red card for Billy Paynter capped a miserable afternoon for the Whites and left them six points off an automatic promotion spot.
Leeds require maximum points at the expense of sixth-placed Nottingham Forest, who they face at Elland Road in a massive game on April 2.
They also face tricky away games at Millwall, Crystal Palace and a final day trip to QPR which could bog them down.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Billy Davies’s side will probably be more concerned with securing a play-off place as opposed to winning promotion automatically (7/2 Promotion).
Forest were looking favourites to go up with QPR before embarking on a seven-match winless run which included a costly first home defeat of the season against Hull and a defeat at struggling Sheffield United.
Saturday’s 3-2 reverse at Swansea compounded their misery and has left in-form Reading just three points behind in seventh with a game in hand and a superior goal difference.
Defeat at Leeds in their next game will virtually end any lingering promotion aspirations and leave their hopes of a top-six spot hanging in the balance as they face Reading and eighth-placed Burnley in the following matches.
Prediction: Norwich to go up with QPR automatically.
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