As we near the end of the season, the play offs is, once again, our only chance of getting out of this league. So, we thought we’d look at the other teams circling the top six, assessing their strengths and weaknesses as well as their final games of the campaign.
MK DONS
The Dons should comfortably finish in the playoffs. They’ve got games coming up against teams in the relegation zone and for their sake they’ll want to secure the playoffs sooner rather than later with them facing several teams around them in the table before the end of the season. This should provide them with a chance to get a gauge on their potential opponents for the playoffs. Pretty football paved the way for them to the top six of the table. However, if they could have had more of a foothold on certain games and not let as many leads slip they wouldn’t be looking at the playoffs or praying on a Wigan or Rotherham slip up. If we were to come up against MK in the playoffs we can't be too confident, with us both beating the other away from home. If it were the play-off semis then we'd be tied with an aggregate score of 3-3. Looking back though, in our last nine head-to-head meetings we’ve won six whilst they've only won twice.
OXFORD UNITED
A crafty side under their gaffer Karl Robinson, rarely short of attacking ideas, they usually have more of the ball and teams will tend to sit back and wait for a chance to counter. The cunning attacks have definitely paid off with Oxford boasting the most amount of goals scored by any team in League One this season. Even with an attack so blesses with goals, it makes you wonder why they aren't sitting in the top two spots in the league. Looking ahead to their run of games leading to the end of the season Oxford have one of the toughest runs. With four of the current top six still yet to play, it's a tough task for them to keep up with the competition but they’ve done it before and they’ll probably do it again. I don't think we’d be too unhappy to meet Oxford in the playoffs. They’re a team we regularly play well against. Our last defeat to them in 90 minutes dates all the way back to 1994. The last time we faced them this season we drew 1-1 and we had plenty of shots but too many were off target. That was a result of our heavy pressure in the second half as we tried for the win but couldn’t get that elusive goal. On another day we probably would have beat them, and if we get them in the playoffs I think we’ll beat them too. Keep your eyes peeled for when we play them in a few games time.
PLYMOUTH ARGYLE
The majority of Plymouth's remaining games are mostly against mid-table teams. Some would argue that's a good thing as those clubs don't have much to play for if they're out of the race for the top six and safe from relegation. If Plymouth are to succeed and capture a top six finish then they can't afford to drop any points in their next three games as they have arguably the hardest final four games of the season out of every other playoff contender. In what will definitely be crunch games for every team involved, the Argyle will face off against Wycombe, us, Wigan and then on the final day of the season they host MK Dons. If they don't manage to win their next three then they will be playing tough, important games under heavy pressure. When we faced them it was a feisty affair at the SOL which saw the referee hand out seven yellow cards. Some of those were a bit questionable but this is League One referees we’re talking about here. After early goals and several more chances we found ourselves defending a nervy one goal lead for the last third of the game. We are still yet to face them in the return fixture, similarly to Oxford.
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY
If the Owls are to re-enter the Championship they’ll have to maintain their current form. They’ve picked up the third most points in the last six games as they’ve climbed up to seventh, embarking on a late push for promotion. If they are to capture a top six spot they will have to rely on the likes of Barry Bannan. He’s had a great season full of goals and assists but one thing to worry about for the fans and maybe their medical team is the amount of minutes the 32-year-old has endured. He’s played the most minutes and matches for his club in the league this season. He's not 21 anymore; sooner or later that will take its toll and with additional games to play. As for our head-to-head record… At home we hammered them as they shipped five, but away from home was a different story. Several individual errors led to them beating us 3-0 at Hillsborough. They caught us in a run of bad form but as we’ve shown in the reverse fixture, on our day we can turn them over and dispatch them.
WYCOMBE
The Wanderers have their destiny in their own hands and can definitely achieve a playoff spot with their remaining games against worse teams than other playoff candidates. The run-in for them sees them face off mostly against bottom-half opposition. Wycombe have three matches which will ultimately decide whether or not they will get a chance to compete for the third spot in the Championship next season. The biggest game of all is Plymouth, who as previously mentioned sit three points ahead of them with a game in hand, so Ainsworth’s men have a great opportunity to diminish the hope of Argyle fans. Then the other big game is against Sheffield Wednesday who are on level points and also chasing that sixth spot. Picking up only three wins from their last eleven outings they need to turn things around if they want a chance to go to Wembley in May. Otherwise it's another season in League One for Gareth Ainsworth and his club. When we face each other it usually ends up in a good showing. Our first game against them this season saw us beat them 3-1 as we swept them away. Then the other match saw a thrilling 3-3 with two very late goals for both teams. Should we face them in the playoffs I think we will do just fine so long as the lads are prepared to come away with some cuts and bruises against an always-physical Wycombe side.
IPSWICH TOWN
Ipswich find themselves in a similar situation to us. High hopes at the start of the season gradually decreased into hopes of reaching a playoff spot at best. One of the biggest disappointments for The Tractor Boys will be how their acquisition of the third top scorer in the league last season panned out. They signed Joe Pigott from annual relegation battlers AFC Wimbledon. He scored 20 goals last season for such a poor side. After getting good numbers with a team so low in the table you would have thought he would have improved on his previous tally, however Pigott has struggled to make an impact and found himself making most of his appearances off the bench. Unbeaten in their last nine they have also been making a late push heading into crunch time. They sit six points adrift from sixth place and have played more games than some other teams around them. It will be tough for them to squeeze into the playoffs and by the looks of it, it’s too little too late. Especially when they are yet to face Oxford, Plymouth, Rotherham and wigan. Every game is a must win and I just don't see it happening for them this season. Even though we looked poor as we drew 1-1 in December there were still positives to take from the match. We showed that even if we aren’t at the races, we can still take something away from them as they looked better in every department. The other game ended 2-0 to us as we scored two late goals for all three points.
Other than Oxford, who we are yet to face for the second time this season, we’ve beaten all of the teams around us at least once this season. This proves that no matter who we face, we have the ability to get past them and finally re-enter the Championship. It’s just getting over that mental side of the stakes behind the game, but with Neil at the helm I'm sure he's the right man in charge for calming players before important games.
