Express & Star

The run-in: How Wolves and their promotion rivals shape up

Wolves correspondent Tim Spiers takes a look at the run-ins of the four main promotion contenders.

Published

Wolves

Conor Coady (AMA)

Nuno Espirito Santo's team need just four more victories to guarantee promotion and the likelihood is they won’t need that many.

Of their eight remaining fixtures, there are a couple of obvious pitfalls, with trips to Middlesbrough (where they haven’t won since 1951) and second-placed Cardiff likely to provide the toughest tests.

An away day at Bolton won’t be easy either, as Villa proved at the weekend.

So it’s likely to be at Molineux where promotion could be realised with four very winnable home games. Indeed, the visits of Derby and Blues represent a decent bet for when the finishing line will be crossed and the celebrations start.

And hey, even if Wolves contrive to cock it up from here, they have the safety net of a trip to the Stadium of Light on the final day. If there’s any ground you’d want to go to win a football match this season, it’s there.

Fixtures:

MARCH

30th Middlesbrough (a)

APRIL

3rd Hull (h)

6th Cardiff (a)

11th Derby (h)

15th Blues (h)

21st Bolton (a)

28th Sheff Wed (h)

MAY

6th Sunderland (a)

Cardiff

Neil Warnock (AMA)

Cardiff are six points behind Wolves and have of course a far greater chance than Fulham or Villa of catching them – especially with a game in hand and the chance to beat Nuno Espirito Santo’s team in Wales on April 6.

The controversial postponement of their trip to Derby at the weekend was awful timing, with the Rams on a seven game winless run and with Villa and Fulham having slipped up. With the gap to third place being seven points, Cardiff will be more concerned with being caught than overtaking Wolves.

Their run-in looks the hardest of the top four on paper with away games at Sheffield United and Derby, plus what looks like a pivotal trip to Villa Park.

Slip up against Wolves and Villa and the mettle of Neil Warnock’s overachieving team will be seriously put to the test.

Fixtures:

MARCH

30th Burton (h)

APRIL

2nd Sheff Utd (a)

6th Wolves (h)

10th Villa (a)

14th Norwich (a)

21st Forest (h)

24th Derby (a)

28th Hull (a)

MAY

6th Reading (h)

Fulham

Ryan Sessegnon

It’s been a remarkable rise this season for Fulham, who were flagging in 16th as recently as November.

From December 23 onwards, they’ve embarked on a 16-game unbeaten run – with 12 wins – to rocket up the table and become the team most likely to gatecrash Wolves and Cardiff’s promotion party.

Have they left it too late? Possibly, but their run-in is arguably the easiest of the promotion contenders.

Slavisa Jokanovic’s team play six teams from the bottom half of the table and while a trip to Millwall is almost as tough as it gets right now, the Lions’ play-off charge may have petered out by April 21.

Before then they face four teams with very little to play for, plus Reading at home – an appetising run for one of the country’s form teams. Don’t rule flying Fulham out of the race just yet.

Fixtures:

MARCH

30th Norwich (a)

APRIL

3rd Leeds (h)

7th Sheff Wed (a)

10th Reading (h)

14th Brentford (h)

21st Millwall (a)

28th Sunderland (h)

MAY

6th Blues (a)

Villa

Steve Bruce

It’s been a rollercoaster season for Villa and while two shock defeats in a week to Queens Park Rangers and Bolton have seen many write off their top-two hopes, it would be unwise to predict exactly what Steve Bruce’s team will do in their final eight games. As they’ve proved this calendar year, they’re capable of winning all eight and going up automatically.

Conversely, they’ve endured poor runs of three points from five matches or seven from seven during their up-and-down campaign and a repeat of those figures could even put their top-six hopes in jeopardy.

If they can regain the momentum criminally lost since that 4-1 humbling of Wolves by winning their next three – a task certainly not beyond them – then the visit of Cardiff on April 10 offers hope that they can avoid the play-off lottery.

Fixtures:

MARCH

31st Hull City (a)

APRIL

3rd Reading (h)

7th Norwich (a)

10th Cardiff (h)

13th Leeds (h)

21st Ipswich (a)

28th Derby (h)

MAY

6th Millwall (a)