City go into the final day of the season in with a chance of claiming a top-six berth
Mohamed Belloumi and Matty Jacob at The Valley(Image: Sean Troup/Shutterstock)
As the Championship season reaches a climax, Derby County might be behind Wrexham and Hull City in the table – but they have two advantages going into the final day.
The Rams, who came from 2-1 down to beat QPR in the final quarter of an hour at the weekend, sit eighth, a point off both the Red Dragons and the Tigers.
But according to EFL pundits Jobi McAnuff and Curtis Davies, all is not lost for John Eustace’s men, which would mean bad news for Sergej Jakirovic’s City, who are six games without a win after Saturday’s loss at Charlton Athletic.
Of the three, McAnuff believes the Rams have the best fixture – against Sheffield United at home in a game that is close to a sell-out, while Wrexham face top-two hopefuls Middlesbrough. City, meanwhile, welcome ninth-placed Norwich City to the MKM Stadium.
Former Ram and Tigers ace Davies also noted Derby has the best goal difference of the three competing for the final play-off berth on what promises to be a captivating final day.
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“Every season we get to the last day, and it is a calculator, pen and paper, trying to keep track of everything,” McAnuff told Sky Sports. “You look at this now, and it depends on what position you’d rather be in. In terms of a game, I’d want to be Derby, but obviously they’ve got a little bit of a points gap to make up – only one, I know.
“But then you look at Wrexham, Middlesbrough have still got something to fight for, obviously a huge game in midweek [Southampton vs Ipswich Town] in terms of the top two and where teams finish.
“They’ll want to try and avoid Southampton, I would imagine, in the play-offs and then Hull (City) and the run they’re on against one of the form teams in the league. So it’s all to play for.”
Sixth-placed Wrexham are currently in the box seat – albeit they face Boro on the back of losing to champions Coventry City, McAnuff doesn’t think their confidence will have been knocked by their 3-1 defeat at the CBS Arena.
“I think this is a really easy one to just put to bed if I’m really being honest, and that is now the job of Phil Parkinson and the players to say, ‘Listen, we have got a massive game next week, we’ve just come up against the best team in the league. We’ve had an opportunity, haven’t quite taken it, and they’ve ended up winning the game’. So, I think it’s a reset, refresh, and make sure they’re absolutely dialled in to next week.”
Davies believes the key will be Ipswich’s game at St Mary’s. If they win, they are effectively promoted; if they drop points, then Boro will go to Wrexham knowing they are still in with a chance of automatic promotion. “I think what will make it really interesting, ultimately, is the result on Tuesday. If Southampton go and win that, it’s open for everyone,” the ex-Tigers star said.
“Then you’re talking about a Boro side that are going to be in there knowing that on that last day, if they get the win [at Wrexham], depending on what goes on elsewhere, they can jump into the top two and we’re talking about goals scored, goals conceded.
“Derby are in the backseat as such, but they’ve got a much better goal difference than the other two so if the results would go for them, they’re in.”
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