L1 & L2 preview: Promotion and play-off prospects

Graham Alexander, Mat Sadler and Stuart Maynard are hoping to seal the final automatic promotion spot from League Two

A football season is a marathon, not a sprint. How many times have we heard that?

And yet here we are on the final day of the regular season with a number of teams having virtually run a marathon of 45 games but now finding themselves needing to sprint down the final straight.

Leyton Orient and Reading are the two sides vying for the final play-off spot in League One.

Meanwhile in League Two, three teams are in with a chance of filling the final automatic promotion spot and five others still harbour play-off hopes. Oh, and there's the title to be decided as well - calculators at the ready everyone!

Who really wants third place?

Three teams are still in with a chance of the final League Two automatic promotion spot

Normally when you have three teams vying for a final promotion spot you would call it a race. Well, League Two's has turned into a bit of a Gentleman's Excuse Me.

Anyone not know the Walsall story? Right, for those late to the party, the Saddlers were 12 points clear at the top of table in January and 15 ahead of fourth place but spin forward three months and they need help from elsewhere to sneak back into third position.

Mat Sadler's side also need to do something they have failed to do in their past 13 games - win. You'll forgive fans for not assuming they can get the three points at Crewe given they missed the chance to go back into the top three with a calamitous home defeat by Accrington last time out.

"I'm not going to stop fighting, the group aren't going to stop fighting - I'm not going to pretend to everyone we're not frustrated but we're fighting at the stage of the season we wanted to be and we're in with a shout," Sadler told BBC Radio WM.

Victory on Saturday would leave Bradford City needing to beat Fleetwood to retain third spot.

For their part the Bantams, who were actually top at the start of April, need to lose their habit of shooting themselves in the foot.

A winless run of four games has seen them concede twice in the dying minutes in a 5-4 defeat by Swindon, once in added time during a 3-3 draw at Chesterfield and then have defender Aden Baldwin sent off after the half-time whistle for dissent and miss a penalty in a potentially damaging loss to Doncaster last weekend.

All that will be forgotten if they can do the necessary at a packed Valley Parade on Saturday.

"We have to show a maturity and understanding of what we can do better," boss Graham Alexander told BBC Radio Leeds.

"We can't keep talking about still having a chance - you need a killer instinct if you want to win but in the last three games we've left people with questions to answer."

Watching all this unfold have been Notts County who need a Bradford defeat and Walsall failing to win to have a chance of leapfrogging into third place.

One point from four games looked to have ended their hopes of avoiding the play-offs but a win at Harrogate last weekend, coupled with the chaotic nature of Bradford and Walsall's form, gives them hope. However, they need to beat Doncaster, who have their own agenda...

Donny seek to finish top dogs

Doncaster confirmed promotion by beating Bradford City last weekend

"Our aim is to win the title." Those were the words of Doncaster boss Grant McCann - not after securing promotion last Saturday, not at the start of the campaign but just minutes after they had lost to Crewe on penalties in last season's play-off semi-finals.

For a large part of this season it looked like those words might come back to haunt him as his side not only looked unlikely to finish top but securing an automatic promotion spot was far from a foregone conclusion.

With 11 games remaining, Rovers were seven points behind then-leaders Walsall and had to play five teams in the top seven.

They are now unbeaten in 10, won promotion with the win over Bradford and know victory against Notts County will give them the title.

"I feel a real sense of pride - it's been a tough season and there have been times when people have questioned us," McCann told BBC Radio Sheffield.

"Can we achieve what we set out to do? Number one was promotion, number two was the title - we've done the first part."

Any kind of slip by Doncaster would open the door to Port Vale who also confirmed promotion last week with a win at AFC Wimbledon.

Darren Moore's side have to beat Gillingham to retain their hopes of lifting the silverware albeit they have nailed their main objective of an immediate return to League One.

"A chance of the title keeps everyone incentivised - we'll prepare as normal and look forward to the game," said Moore.

Two places, five teams

Karl Robinson has led Salford into the League Two play-off places

Consistently inconsistent is the best way to describe teams trying to nab a spot in the play-offs and five teams are eyeing one of the two spaces remaining.

A draw for AFC Wimbledon at Grimsby will qualify them but a Mariners victory would see them overtake the Dons and leave them vulnerable to either Salford, who visit relegated Carlisle and know victory will seal their place, and Chesterfield, who travel to Accrington.

Successive defeats torpedoed Colchester's realistic chances but a win over Barrow might see them make it if three other results go their way - unlikely? Yes. Impossible? Judging by what we've seen from this division, definitely not.

Os and Royals set for day of drama

Either Richie Wellens or Noel Hunt will be smiling on Saturday evening

One major issue remains unresolved in League One - it comes down to a straight fight between Leyton Orient and Reading for the final play-off spot with both teams seemingly at this point against the odds.

With Reading's short-term future almost constantly in doubt over continued ownership wrangles and head coach Ruben Selles jumping ship for Hull City in December, even competing for a top-six finish might be seen as an achievement.

The Royals host Barnsley, needing to better Leyton Orient's result at Huddersfield - an Os win will book them their place in the end-of-season fun and games.

Richie Wellens has lifted Orient from the relegation zone to sixth place in the space of five months, helped along the way by the division's top scorer Charlie Kelman.

With new American owners announced last Friday, this might be an opportune time for the East London club to start stretching their ambitions, not that the boss is thinking too far ahead.

"I go back to my time as a player [for Leicester in 2010] when we were beating Cardiff with 10 minutes to go and I start thinking about playing at Wembley - they equalise and we lose on penalties," said Wellens.

"We just have to think about the next tackle or pass and as a staff the next decision we have to make - that will stand us in good stead."

Jostling for position

Wycombe's Richard Kone picked up two honours at the EFL Awards this week

Having spent the majority of the season vying for second place, it seems inconceivable Wycombe could end up as low as fifth in League One.

But that's what will happen if they lose at home to third-placed Stockport and Charlton beat Burton, which would surely lead to much disappointment around Adams Park in a week in which forward Richard Kone was named League One's player and young player of the season.

Taking over from Matt Bloomfield in February, Mike Dodds kept the Chairboys neck and neck with Wrexham for that automatic spot behind runaway champions Birmingham but successive defeats by Charlton and Leyton Orient proved fatal.

Of course, a win at Adams Park would earn third place - more proof, if it was needed, of just how unpredictable the EFL is.