Blackburn Rovers' 1-0 win over Southampton with a 90th-minute goal on Tuesday had a major impact on both the race for the Premier League 2 Division 2 title and the promotion play-off places.
Damien Johnson’s Blackburn are now four points clear of second-placed Aston Villa. Only the champions are promoted automatically.
Southampton remain three points outside the four play-off places with two fixtures left.
Teams ranked second to fifth will compete in the play-offs. There, one-off semi-finals and finals will decide who is promoted to Division 1 alongside the champions.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Blackburn
BLB
|
22 | +27 | 49 |
| 2 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
22 | +21 | 42 |
| 3 |
Brighton
BHA
|
22 | +21 | 40 |
| 4 |
Middlesbrough
MID
|
22 | +5 | 37 |
| 5 |
Reading
RDG
|
22 | -6 | 34 |
| 6 |
Southampton
SOU
|
22 | +4 | 33 |
| 7 |
Norwich
NOR
|
22 | 0 | 32 |
| 8 |
Fulham
FUL
|
22 | +1 | 30 |
| 9 |
Wolves
WOL
|
22 | -11 | 28 |
With the promotion race heating up, we look at the nine teams in contention.
Blackburn Rovers
To play: WOL (A), AVL (H), WBA (A), NEW (H)
Three wins will guarantee Rovers the title. They have won five of their last six and have lost only twice all season.
Aston Villa
To play: STK (A), BLB (A), NOR (H), NEW (A)
Villa are all-but guaranteed a play-off place. They have won four of their last five matches and face Blackburn on 16 April.
Brighton & Hove Albion
To play: WBA (H), STK (H), WOL (A)
Brighton have picked up 13 points from a possible 15 since a defeat by Reading on 8 January. The Seagulls face three of the league’s bottom four in the run-in.
Reading
To play: NEW (H), STK (H)
Four defeats in their last five matches have dented the Royals' bid to bounce back to Division 1 at the first attempt.
Middlesbrough
To play: NEW (A), WOL (A), WBA (H), SOU (A)
Boro have won only once since 20 November, but seven points from their remaining matches would guarantee them a top-five place.
Fulham
To play: SOU (H), NEW (A)
Like Middlesbrough and Reading, Fulham have lost four of their last five, losing ground on the leaders and allowing the chasing pack to close in.
Southampton
To play: FUL (A), MID (H)
Radhi Jaidi's side had gained 13 points from five matches before losing at Blackburn.
Norwich City
To play: WOL (H), AVL (A)
The Canaries need to win both of their fixtures and rely on results elsewhere to make the top five.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
To play: BLB (H), WBA (A), MID (H), NOR (A), BHA (H)
Having five matches left mean Wolves could yet make a late charge with a run of victories.
Also in this series
Part 2: Battle for PL2 Division 1 safety in focus
Part 3: PL2 Division 1 title race in focus
