Does anyone actually want to be promoted from League Two this year?
The remarkably erratic form of…well, just about everyone makes the final stretch of the season incredibly difficult to predict.
Wrexham, of course, are as culpable as anyone else in the race. We’re putting in the sort of performances which suggest we’re hitting great form at just the right point, and then following them up with a frustrating defeat.
Last week illustrated this perfectly. A brilliantly controlled dismantling of the league leaders Mansfield was followed up by defeat at Doncaster.
To be fair, Rovers are in rare form. That was their 5th win in a row, and if they hadn’t been stricken by a terrific number of injuries they probably would have been part of the promotion conversation. Heck, if they’d found any consistency they probably would have won it!
The old cliché warns us that teams in a relegation scrap will come to like in the closing stages of a season as they fight for their lives. It’s more true this year than ever, as Forest Green and Sutton, cut adrift as the bottom two for a long time, suddenly came to life and dragged Colchester into the scrap.
In turn, they reacted with an unbeaten 4-match run (of course, we visit them next!), which has pulled Grimsby into the relegation fight.
The topsy-turvy nature of the division is illustrated by the form table. How are we supposed to measure how difficult our fixtures are when the teams at the top are getting similar results to those at the bottom?
Apart from Doncaster, only league leaders Stockport County are unbeaten in the last 6 games, and they have been wobbling lately, drawing games you’d expect them to win.
Sutton and Forest Green are both in the top 10 in the form table, while Crewe Alexandra, 6th in the league and serious contenders for an automatic spot a couple of weeks ago, are 21st. Mansfield, top of the pile until we beat them, are 13th.
Here’s another cliché for you: whoever hits form now is up. I’ve been saying it for a few weeks now, and as nobody has made a decisive move, it’s still true.
It’s impossible to gauge who that might be, or indeed whether anyone will find form at the right time. Imagine the insufferable agony of everyone dropping points until the final whistle is blown on the season. It’d be gruelling.
It’s hard to quantify how difficult Wrexham’s run-in is in this most capricious of division. Crewe are still in the play-offs, but on form are our easiest opponents, while Colchester and Forest Green make me feel edgy.
I suppose the most confident conclusion to be drawn is after Saturday our fate will still be in our own hands, and 3 of our last 4 games will be at the SToK Cae Ras. Of course, we’ve seen us both excel and disappoint at home in the last month. There are no guarantees in this crazy season.
For the second time in 5 days we’re travelling to a new venue on Saturday. Having played at Doncaster’s Eco Power Stadium for the first time on Wednesday, we now make our first journey to the Colchester Community Stadium.
DragonHeart 