League One: What is at stake at the top and bottom of the table on a thrilling final day?

Plymouth Argyle boss Steven Schumacher has already led his side to promotion - but can he seal the League One title on the final day?Image source, Rex Features
Image caption,

Plymouth Argyle boss Steven Schumacher has already led his side to promotion - but can he seal the League One title on the final day?

With just one game remaining in League One, the title, a play-off place as well as three relegation places are in the balance.

Plenty could change over the course of 90 minutes, as a thrilling season winds down to its conclusion.

Before the final round of fixtures in the third tier, BBC Sport takes a look at what could happen.

Will the title be heading west or east?

The race to be crowned champions of League One has been one of the most exciting title races in years and is now down to the final two.

Will leaders Plymouth Argyle or second-placed Ipswich Town take the title - after both won promotion last week?

Having seen Sheffield Wednesday and Argyle set the pace, Ipswich clawed back a 10-point gap to the top from mid-February thanks to a remarkable run of 13 wins and one draw from 14 matches.

Even more impressively, they have conceded just two goals in that 14-game run and scored 43 goals, including 6-0 wins over Charlton Athletic and Exeter City.

Image source, Rex Features
Image caption,

Ipswich Town have hit their stride at the tail end of the season but can they cap it off with the third-tier title?

And as Ipswich have flown, Wednesday struggled as the Owls took one win in eight to end their automatic promotion challenge despite four wins from their past five matches.

Ipswich striker Conor Chaplin has really hit his straps in the run-in with 10 goals in his past eight appearances as Kieran McKenna's first job in management has ended in promotion.

"It means an awful lot, no doubt about it. You work very hard in your coaching career to get into positions like this," McKenna told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"We're all ambitious and we want to achieve things. We knew it would take a really big effort to get out of this really tough division and there's been so much work from everyone associated with the club and it's great to see that work has paid off."

Can Argyle break the 100-point mark?

It is Argyle who are in the box seat to win the title, however, as Steven Schumacher's side have a one-point advantage over the Tractor Boys thanks to a run of 10 wins from 12 matches.

A 1-0 win over Burton Albion last week ensured promotion for the Pilgrims after 13 years in the bottom two tiers of the English Football League, having rebuilt from almost going out of business and nearly going down to the National League.

A first title since 2004 would be the icing on the cake for a team that had play-off ambitions going into the season.

"If you could break the 100-point mark that would be an incredible achievement," boss Schumacher told BBC Sport.

"That'll be the message to the players. They'll already go down in folklore, they'll never be forgotten, and if they can get over 100 points, well, not many teams ever do that.

"They should try and go for it because that doesn't happen too often in their careers."

The race to the play-offs

It is a two-way shootout between Derby County and Peterborough United for the remaining place in the play-offs.

Derby - who have played in the third tier this season for the first time since since 1986 after their relegation last term - know they will make the post-season if they win at Wednesday, who are guaranteed third place.

A victory could also see them avoid Wednesday in the play-offs should Bolton lose at Bristol Rovers or draw and the Rams win by three goals or more at Hillsborough.

Peterborough know that to get the final play-off place they must win at fourth-placed Barnsley and hope Derby do not win - a Derby draw would mean Posh would need a four-goal victory at Oakwell.

"We have a really good opportunity to do something this year and we will do everything we can. If we fall short we fall short, it won't be from a lack of effort," Derby boss Paul Warne, who turns 50 on Monday, told BBC Radio Derby.

"We are not setting up for a draw, it's not in our nature. I don't know how you would set up for a draw.

"I'm hoping for a similar level of performances [as shown against Portsmouth last week] against a very good team. I'm not asking for a lot more, just a little more Lady Luck and fortune in front of goal.

"Hopefully we will have enough in our performance to just get us over the final bit then we can have about 30 seconds to enjoy it before we go again."

Who will remain in League One?

Image source, BBC Sport

The relegation fight is also intriguing as five sides try and avoid three places in League Two that are still to be determined.

Oxford United are all but safe - they would need to see an 18-goal swing for them to go down and they host fellow strugglers Accrington, who themselves need a 16-goal swing and see the three sides above them all lose if they are to survive.

"We've used the biggest budget we've ever had this season and I haven't used it at all wisely," is Accrington manager John Coleman's honest assessment of his side's plight.

"Some of it was my own doing, some of it wasn't my own doing. The truth is I tried to sign players and I couldn't and we maybe have to look at altering our wage structure next season, keeping it within the parameters but altering what we do.

"I ended up having too many players that weren't good enough, or consistently good enough. You could see in flashes why we signed them, but in the main, they haven't been good enough."

Realistically Morecambe, Milton Keynes Dons and Cambridge United are fighting it out over two relegation places.

The three sides are split by one point, with Cambridge hosting relegated Forest Green Rovers while Morecambe and MK Dons travel to mid-table sides Exeter City and and Burton Albion respectively.

"We've been on a very good run, the players are in hungry mode," says Morecambe boss Derek Adams, whose team have won their past three games to give them a sniff of survival.

"The result at Burton helped us because it gave us a little bit more clarity on the situation. It allows us to really focus on winning the game and then we can look at the Burton v MK Dons game.

"If that goes our way, then we'll have enough points to stay in the division. We've already got more points than we did last season but we've taken it to the last day of the season again."

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