Norwich and Watford top 2 automatic Despite some indifferent form Swansea and Brentford will finish in the play offs in my opinion. That then leaves 2 positions to play for. Reading Us Bournemouth Middlesbrough Cardiff The other teams below have too much ground to make up. Reading have probably the toughest run in. Cardiff probably need to win at least 6 of their last 8. We have a big game in April at home to Middlesbrough that is a potential 6 pointer. Can we maintain our position until the end of the season?
Hopefully yesterday was a case of one match too many and this break will do them good, and not that they’ve run out of steam. I’d probably feel more confident if the reading and Boro games were away. At the moment, a combination of results that would leave us needing 77/78 points isn’t all that far fetched, especially if we lose to reading. Easter will be massive. I think boro play Bournemouth as well as us playing reading
Personally, I think it’s two out of three - Barnsley, Reading and Bournemouth. Both Cardiff and Middlesbrough are too inconsistent to pick up enough points to close the gap and maintain it. But this is the Championship so who knows?
Middlesbrough are 8 points behind us, and their next two games, before they play us, are against Watford and Bournemouth. If they have any realistic hope of overtaking us, by the time they play us, we will probably be already unlikely to finish in the top 6.