Basically we are relying on at least one of the only 2 teams below us in the table to do us a favour (banking on Sunderland not losing at Southend).
Scunthorpe have to go for it as only a win gives them any chance of staying up. They are awful and lost at home to Bradford yesterday, but they did come back from 3 down and might even have got something out if the game at the death so don’t discount them (especially as Plymouth were themselves badly mauled and haven’t scored many lately).
And Bradford have actually been playing better since their relegation was confirmed - won yesterday, point against Gillingham, took lead and scored twice away at Brizzle. And they are at home in front of their own fans so will want to go out with a bang. Just a pity that Wycombe couldn’t have done us a favour and left the Wombles needing to go all out for the 3 points rather than 1.
Either a draw or a Scunthorpe win in the game at Home Park, plus a defeat for Southend, keeps us up (providing we win, of course).
If Shrewsbury can nick a point today, and Sunderland win at Fleetwood to keep a feint hope of automatic alive, will be helpful variables for two of those three fixtures. Although, even though it means significantly less to Shrewsbury’s players than fans who drops, I fully expect them to be professional, and go all out for the win, as it potentially impacts on other clubs.
The weird dynamic next week is that everyone has to go for the win, so basically you’re going to have lots of crap, out of form teams teams trying to do what they do least well - win football matches. I suppose Wimbledon are in a reasonable run of form, and a draw would probably do them, but I get the feeling there will be some freak results just like yesterday. At the top its even conceivable that Luton could end up in the play-offs! Are any of the games on tv next week?
It means if we do go down at Shrewsbury there is going to be a full contingent of Walsall fans there having to face the goading and celebrations - and they will remember it for many years to come. It’s already started and we haven’t even gone yet.
Yes an extra point or two would make all the difference, 45 minutes against 10 men v Oxford, the Barnsley game, the last minute shenaneghans against Luton, Sunderland and Peterborough. The only antidote to all of that is the farcical point we got against Southend. If we stay up and they go down then we really have dodged a bullet.
