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It’s crunch time! Realistically, the top 6 are the only sides left in contention for an automatic promotion spot: 7th-placed Gillingham would only get to 75 points if they won all their remaining matches. So who’s got the best chance of going straight up and avoiding all that play-off nonsense?
It all kicks off today, even though we don’t play until tomorrow, thanks to the rearrangement of the Doncaster match. It’s hard to see any obvious places where our rivals will drop points: MK Dons’ trip to Notts County would be a tricky trip if The Magpies weren’t in such horrible form.
STOCKPORT COUNTY
Actually, Stockport’s recent habit of dropping points could continue at home to play-off chasing AFC Wimbledon, but if they’re able to win today they probably have the most amenable run-in. Admittedly, they’ve a certain trip to the SToK Cae Ras to round off the season, but they’ll hope to wrap promotion up by then: between Wimbledon and Wrexham they have a series of games against sides which are either at the bottom of the table or out of form.
Which brings us to how we should quantify the quality of the opponents that will face the top 6. While Forest Green Rovers and Sutton United are the bottom two, they are also in good form, and have dragged Colchester into the battle for survival. Sutton have won three games in a row, and could yet cause issues for Stockport and MK Dons.
Forest Green, meanwhile, have suffered a dip in form, but if they are able to regain momentum they could be king-makers: in their fight for survival they face three of the top 6.
MANSFIELD TOWN
Mansfield have the ideal match to bounce back from their poor showing at the SToK Cae Ras on Friday, as Accrington are in horrible form. However, if they aren’t able to regain momentum today, they face a tricky run-in. play-off chasing Crawley and Gillingham visit Field Mill, as do Forest Green. They’ll hope to take advantage of home advantage, as they away assignments are tough: MK Dons and Barrow.
BARROW
Barrow are 6 points off the play-offs with a game in hand, and are in the best form of the top 6. They also have an attractive run of fixtures: there aren’t many teams with nothing to play for in the division, but they’ve managed to pick out 3 of them for their next 3 games. Then they’ve 3 away games, and finish with a massive home game against Mansfield.
CREWE ALEXANDRA
Seven points off the top 3, Crewe are a real long shot, but apart from a home game against us, they have an apparently easy run-in, and might be able to make one last big push.
MILTON KEYNES DONS
As for Milton Keynes Dons, I just can’t work them out. They looked poor against us at their place, yet somehow emerged with a point, and collapsed against Stockport last week. Yet they’ve stacked up the points and are in good form. A home game against Mansfield is the main obstacle in their path.
WREXHAM
And then there’s us. I’m not about to start making predictions about Wrexham games: tempting fate’s just not my thing. Our run-in is quite tough – who noticed Doncaster racking up 4 wins in a row? – but that can be a good thing: we can take points off Crewe and Stockport, as we did against Mansfield. Let’s just say I don’t mind the last game of the season being a title-decider, but don’t want anything more than that to be riding on it!
DragonHeart 