QPR and Norwich have already made it into the Premier League and now the marathon enters it’s final sprint. The dreaded play-offs are upon us.
The Npower Championship has become more exciting than the Premier League in the last few seasons. There is an emphasis on keeping the ball on the floor, even among teams in the lower reaches, a far cry from Stoke, Blackburn and the rest of the usual suspects. This season’s play-off participants are all keen to play football first and lump it later.
Last season saw Blackpool sneak into sixth place ahead of Swansea on the final day of the league campaign and then stun much-fancied Nottingham Forest in the semi-final. They then won one of the all-time great play-off finals at Wembley against Cardiff, but this season there are no 'gate-crashers'.
Forest are looking to build on last year’s disappointment and return to the Premier League for the first time in 12 years to give the top flight the look of a Merlin sticker album once again. Billy Davies will relish another crack at the big time after an acrimonious exit from Derby County in 2007 - older, wiser and still referring to himself in the third-person.
Cardiff’s slip-up in the run-in cost them second place and the lottery sees them visit Reading on Friday night. They will need players like Craig Bellamy, Michael Chopra, Jay Bothroyd and Peter Whittingham to feed on the big-game atmosphere and prove too much for a Reading side littered with youthful joie de vivre but precious little pressure-cooker experience.
Dave Jones has been there and done it at the top level and his reaction to the alleged all-nighter before the Middlesbrough defeat will be crucial to how his Cardiff side cope. Reading know how to spring an upset under Brian McDermott through two FA Cup runs and channelling that will be all-important.
Momentum is the key at this stage and the story could be different to last year for Forest. The Reds had looked a good bet for automatic promotion last season only to slip into third as Newcastle and West Brom went on a relentless run to the Premier League. Forest sit top of the form guide with the nearest play-off rival, Swansea, in fourth place, although the Swans have conceded just four goals in their last six matches.
Reading and Cardiff are sixth and seventh in the form table and still seem too close to call. Advantage always lies in playing the away leg first, but Cardiff haven’t beaten a team in the top-half of the Championship since a 2-0 win at Hull in February and despite the protestations that they’ve learnt from their bitter experience at the hands of Charlie Adam and friends, they might be suffering again come Tuesday night. Reading’s cup culture could serve them well but they will want to go one better than the heartbreak they endured in 1995.
Thursday, 12 May 2011
Nottingham Forest v Swansea City, POSF, L1, 19:45
Friday, 13 May 2011
Reading v Cardiff City, POSF, L1, 19:45
Monday, 16 May 2011
Swansea City v Nottingham Forest, POSF, L2, 19:45
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Cardiff City v Reading, POSF, L2, 19:45
Prediction: Forest to beat Reading. McGugan to score the winner. Or, your guess is as good as mine.
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