Today it is the turn of the Sky Bet League One and this division will see three sides move up into the Championship, two automatically and the other after a playoff while, at the bottom, three drop down to the Sky Bet Division Two.
Relegation:
Crewe find themselves bottom of the table and already one of the teams to drop out at the end of the season. Currently on 30 points there are not enough games left to overtake Shrewsbury, who are in that first safety spot above the relegation zone.
Also likely to join Crewe would be Colchester who, although can still mathematically escape will likely instead confirm their relegation this time next weekend, if not earlier. Playing the current bottom side away from home they may secure points on Tuesday but essentially if the Shrews win theirs against Sheffield United then it would all be for nothing.
So that leaves two more sides getting relegated out of six serious contenders. Most likely Chesterfield and Oldham should be able to scrape enough points to survive and Shrewsbury have a game in hand, so you would like to think that could potentially help, although it is away to a promotion chasing Walsall. For my money though it will be Doncaster and Fleetwood joining the other two in dropping out.
Promotion:
At the top it’s a little less straight forward. For the automatic promotion spots you have three sides, possibly four in with a real shout. Clarity will come on Tuesday evening though when the current top two, Wigan and Burton face off against each other. A win for Wigan, the visiting side, would see the 2013 FA Cup Winners move six points clear at the top with nine left to play for and Burton possibly slip out of second place. If the result ends in the home sides favor though, it would see the top two level on points and a sneaky eye for the Walsall result.
By the time April ends though I think we will see Wigan as promoted, possibly even champions, and Burton not far behind securing their own automatic spot.
This will leave Walsall to go through the play off scenario, along with Bradford and two more from Millwall, Gillingham, Barnsley and possibly Rochdale. With the next three games all against sides in the lower half you would expect Millwall to be there with, I think, Barnsley.
Playoffs will line up with Walsall taking on Barnsley and Millwall to face Bradford, with Bradford winning the whole thing and going up?
Relegated: Crewe, Colchester, Doncaster and Fleetwood.
Promotion: Wigan, Burton and Bradford (via Playoff).
Jason is a Freelance Soccer Writer. You can follow him on Twitter @PACityboy and www.facebook.com/jasonbardwell1979
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