Even if the Championship table isn’t very inspiring right now, we can close the gap if we win the games we still have left, the first of which isn’t until April 9 when we host Coventry City at St Mary’s.
But first, we have three difficult games. Middlesbrough, who have won three and drawn one of their last four games, visit the South Coast on Good Friday. They are seven points out of the final play-off spot, so they too can’t afford to lose when they play us.
Then comes the first of the three major games, where we head to Portman Road to play Ipswich. Although they too have been on a roll after faltering in January, we have been competitive with them over the last five games, so if we defeat Boro, we should go there fearlessly.
The first of those matches is this weekend; Coventry, who also have aspirations of promotion, are starting four points out of the play-offs. However, they will be coming to St Mary’s with hopes of winning after defeating Leeds a few days prior and with an eye toward Wembley and their FA Cup semifinal matchup against Manchester United.
The schedule is filling up quickly now, with games scheduled for Saturday and Tuesday until the last week of the season. On Saturday, Watford is at home, Preston is at home on Tuesday, and Cardiff is on Saturday. On Tuesday, there is a big game against Leicester away, and on Saturday, there is a big one against Stoke at home. Following this, there will be the first week off in five weeks before the trip to Leeds United.
There is no margin for error, as the title stated; all we can do is work to narrow the distance and hope that those in positions above us drop a couple of games.
However, we control our own fate; if Leeds, who are presently leading the league, win every game they play until the championship game, they end
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