So many ups & downs

Peter Beagrie looks at the promotion pushers and relegation battlers across the Football League.

Peter takes his weekly look at the Football League

Congratulations to West Brom for securing promotion with three games to go. They are well behind Newcastle in the championship race, but it is still a fine achievement. They have done it in a typically West Brom way; playing good, entertaining football. Now the Baggies fans will be hoping it's not Boing Boing this time; they'll be hoping it's just a Boing. They have been the ultimate yo-yo team in recent years and they'll be hoping to find the resources to stay in the Premier League this time. Money is tight at The Hawthorns, but Roberto Di Matteo has already started sounding out potential targets and will be hoping to find a couple of bargains. The 3-2 victory at Doncaster was typical of their season and featured their 100th goal of the campaign. There is no disgrace in finishing second to an experienced Newcastle team and they are well worthy of their promotion.

Play-off pushers

The question now is who will join them? I would say Nottingham Forest, Cardiff and Leicester are safe in the play-offs. Leicester were on a bad run, but they've turned it around sufficiently and I think they've done enough. But with only two wins from 10 games, Swansea are a target for the sides below them. Both Blackpool and Middlesbrough are looking to beat them to that sixth spot. Looking at the fixtures, Blackpool have an easier run in. They play Forest and Bristol City at home - and their home form has been good this year - and in between that is a trip to Peterborough. Meanwhile Boro have away games against West Brom and Leicester - plus a home game against Coventry. They will have to do something special to get enough points from those away games. If anybody is to knock Swansea off their perch, I ultimately think it will be Blackpool. However, the Swans have a nice home game against Barnsley and I do think a victory there would leave them in a good position.

Relegation battlers

Sheffield Wednesday saw another game slip away with no points against Middlesbrough, but maybe a derby game against Sheffield United is the best thing for them. Look at Tottenham. After their disappointment against Portsmouth, they were able to drag out a performance against their local rivals Arsenal. Wednesday have had the Indian sign over the Blades in recent seasons and derby days are always one-offs. There's more riding on it for Wednesday as United have nothing to play for in the league, so perhaps Wednesday start as favourites? But they are in a desperate situation in the relegation zone with three games left. I would say QPR are safe now, so it's between Wednesday, Crystal Palace, Scunthorpe and Watford for the one relegation spot above Plymouth and Peterborough. There's three points between those four teams and anything could happen. Scunthorpe and Watford both have a game in hand on their rivals - and they are able to score more goals - so I think that might see them safe. In my professional opinion, it's between Palace and Wednesday now. Palace are a point better off but that devastating loss against Neil Warnock's QPR has really damaged their hopes.

League One Look

As far as I'm concerned, Norwich's defeat to Leyton Orient was a blip. It was an abject performance, but their opponents needed the points more and I'm still convinced the Canaries will win the division. The race for the other automatic spot gets closer and closer. Leeds won their third game on the spin after four straight defeats and are now in pole position again. I watched them against Carlisle and when they missed two fantastic opportunities to build on their early lead and their fans feared the old problems would resurface. In the end the strike partnership of Luciano Becchio and Max Gradel won the game for them in the second half and justified the decision to leave Jermaine Beckford on the bench. At this stage of the season, you can forget what has gone before. The most important game is the next one and it's now in Leeds' hands. If they win all of their remaining games they will go up. But all the top teams are playing each other and anything could happen. Millwall play Huddersfield in Friday's live game and that's a massive fixture. Millwall are looking at second spot, while Huddersfield are trying to cement the final play-off spot. They responded to losing 3-0 to Brentford by beating 10-man Walsall 4-3 in a rollercoaster of a game. It seems Lee Clark can't do anything easy - much like his old manager Kevin Keegan! I think Huddersfield's extra firepower should see them into the play-offs ahead of Colchester, but this is a high-pressure game. With the likes of Jordan Rhodes, Neil Harris and Steve Morison on the pitch there will be goals, that's for certain. Whoever wins on Friday will put all kinds of pressure on their rivals playing on Saturday.

Relegation battlers

At the bottom end, it was fantastic to see Leyton Orient have the belief to get in the faces of Norwich and win the game when nobody gave them a chance. I think that result will ultimately save them. They have opened up a three-point game on Tranmere who have some very tough fixtures against the likes of Colchester, Brentford and Millwall. With that in mind, I think Orient will survive - but they need to follow up their big midweek win by beating rock-bottom Stockport at home on Saturday.

League Two View

I cannot explain what is happening to Rochdale. They have been so professional all season, but now they are limping towards the finishing line. They seem to have relaxed and as a result they lost 5-0 to Torquay and 1-0 at home to relegated Darlington. They have been ruthless against the lower sides all season, but that's not been the case of late. They will obviously get promoted, but they don't want to go into a tough League One with negativity. Promoted sides often carry momentum into the next division and perhaps Rochdale won't take a winning mentality up with them. I will be at their game with Notts County next week and I believe that will be the championship decider. I've said all season that Notts County have the best squad in League Two and I think they will end up with the title. You can't argue with the job Steve Cotterill has done. He has kept a £100,000 striker like Karl Hawley happy on the bench, while Luke Rodgers and Lee Hughes have been banging in the goals. I was never in any doubt that they would clinch an automatic spot - and they should take the championship.

Play-off pushers

Any team down to 11th could still get into the play-offs because it's so wide open. I had written Morecambe off, but now they are on the cusp of the play-offs, while Dagenham & Redbridge can score for fun and they have turned things around as well. It will probably come down to the head-to-heads between the play-off contenders. This weekend's fixture between Port Vale and Bury is crucial, for example. Two of the play-off contenders in Morecambe and Northampton must travel to the top two, Notts County and Rochdale, on Saturday. However, both sides are in form and will hope to win those games. It seems the highest-placed team that won't contend for the play-offs is Shrewsbury. They've had injury problems but Paul Simpson will be desperately disappointed by their fall from grace this season.