It has been a long season, but for Birmingham City, a pretty inevitable one too.

Promotion has been all but assured for a while - but can be confirmed tonight with a win at Peterborough.

With 92 points from 39 games and just three defeats, the EFL record points tally of 106 is there to be broken.

Blues supporters, get in touch to let us know just how you're feeling!

Image source, Opta

Peterborough have made six changes from the defeat to Northampton at the weekend.

Jed Steer, James Donelly, Oscar Wallin, Jadel Katongo, Tayo Edun and Hector Kyprianou are out, and in come Nicholas Bilokapic, Carl Johnston, Sam Hughes, Emmanuel Fernandez, Harley Mills and Mahamadou Susoho.

Peterborough XI: Bilokapic, Johnson, Collins, Mothersille, Odoh, Poku, Jones, Susoho, Hughes, Mills, Fernandez.

Substitutes: Blackmore, Dornelly, De Havilland, Kyprianou, Lindgren, Katongo, Hayes.

Birmingham have also made six changes for the crucial clash with Peterborough.

Alfons Sampsted, Krystian Bielik, Marc Leonard, Luke Harris, Taylor Gardner-Hickman and Alfie May replace Ben Davies, Ethan Laird, Paik Seung-Ho, Kieran Dowell, Keshi Anderson and Jay Stansfield.

Birmingham XI: Allsop, Sampsted, Bielik, Klarer, Cochrane, Leonard, Iwata, Harris, Gardner-Hickman, Willumsson, May.

Substitutes: Peacock-Farrell, Laird, Hanley, Seung-Ho, Dowell, Anderson, Stansfield.

Image source, Opta

Image source, Opta

Jonathan Hogg captains the home side as one of Huddersfield's four changes.

Dion Charles, Antony Evans and Mickel Miller join him in the starting XI.

Radinio Balker doesn't make the squad but Joe Hodge, Tawanda Chirewa and Joe Taylor are available from the bench.

There's two changes for Mike Dodds' Wycombe Wanderers from their loss to Reading last time out.

Fred Onyedinma and Daniel Udoh start up front while Adam Reach shifts to the bench. Garath McCleary doesn't make the trip.

Image source, Opta

Chesterfield know that only a win will do if they are to realistically keep their play-off hopes alive in League Two tonight.

Although they have won four of their past six, a shock 4-0 loss to Tranmere at the weekend leaves them seven points off the pace.

Gillingham know a win for them will end any lingering doubts over their survival.

Reading come into their game at Shrewsbury tonight with a huge opportunity to put pressure on those above them in the play-off race.

The Royals are one point behind Bolton in seventh, having lost just once in their past six games, winning three.

Shrewsbury, meanwhile, are 13 points adrift of safety and six adrift at the bottom with just seven wins all season and four defeats from five.

Noel Hunt will be demanding a big performance from his side.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Wycombe's two-match winless run has come at a price.

It's left Mike Dodds' Chairboys six points adrift of second place, a spot that belonged to them not so long ago, with few matches left to challenge Wrexham for that coveted, other, automatic promotion spot.

Not only that but Stockport's victory at the weekend means Wycombe could slip even further down the field, with Charlton also in a position to overtake the Buckinghamshire club.

Hosts Huddersfield will know the feeling.

The Terriers have just as much, if not more, to play for, lingering just two points below the play-off places that they once occupied.

These are two teams vying for promotion and it could just be that this is the warm-up act for a knock-out bout in a few weeks' time.

Image source, Getty Images

Elsewhere in League One, there could be a big swing in the play-off picture, with seventh-placed Reading travelling to bottom club Shrewsbury, while Bolton, in sixth, host Rotherham in 14th.

And, of course, third-placed Wycombe going to up-and-down Huddersfield.

The visitors know only a win in West Yorkshire will keep them in touch with Wrexham in second, who are six points clear as things stand. Tonight is Wycombe's game in hand on the Dragons.

The Terriers, meanwhile, are two points outside the play-offs after a win over Mansfield at the weekend.

In League Two, Chesterfield host Gillingham knowing they need to win to maintain their own play-off push. Despite four wins in six, they are seven points off the pace.

Image source, Getty Images

Birmingham have certainly spent lots of money in their quest to return to the Championship at the first attempt - more than any other side at this level, even Wrexham, could match.

Their spending last summer was understood to have topped £25m to bring in 17 new players, including paying seven-figure fees for Emil Hansson, Ayumu Yokoyama, Alex Cochrane and Lyndon Dykes.

Their final signing of the summer was to bring in striker Jay Stansfield from Fulham for a jaw-dropping eight-figure fee - smashing the £4m third-tier record amount paid by Sunderland to Wigan Athletic for Will Grigg in 2019.

"For the first time in more than a decade there is optimism at St Andrew's, and the very real sense that there are more good days to come," said BBC Radio WM's Birmingham City commentator Richard Wilford.

"Owners Knighthead remain ambitious for the club and the city itself.

"And as for Chris Davies – he would likely tell you that he is only getting started with what he wants to achieve with Birmingham City."

Read more from Ged Scott's article on Birmingham's road back to the Championship here.

Ged Scott
BBC Sport, West Midlands

By early October last season, Blues had sacked head coach John Eustace with the side sixth in the table, and the seeds were sown on a season of struggle in which six different bosses at one time or another picked the team.

Wayne Rooney's unhappy three months in charge was followed by Steve Spooner coming in as caretaker boss for one game, Tony Mowbray's hopeful arrival, cut short by illness, his stand-in Mark Venus' brief occupancy of the hot seat and finally Gary Rowett's end-of-season tenure.

It was a year ago this week that Blues' new owners announced their plans to build a stadium fit for the Premier League - and, even then, most seasoned football watchers thought they would stay up.

Instead, despite a final-day victory over Norwich City, they were relegated from the Championship by one point and interim boss Rowett departed.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Rex Features

Last season, being a Blues fan meant you were on edge, wondering if relegation was looming and questioning if the decision to sack John Eustace out of the blue in favour of the big-name draw of Wayne Rooney meant there were more harrowing times ahead.

So, Birmingham City provided an answer.

They hired Chris Davies, a relatively unknown name, and invested in their players, breaking a League One record with the signing of Jay Stansfield after he impressed on loan from Fulham the season before.

Now the patrons of St Andrew's have been delighted with a blisteringly brilliant season and could be heading for promotion as quickly as tonight should their hosts oblige.

Peterborough boss Darren Ferguson admits his side's 4-0 drubbing against Northampton Town last time out had "taken the air out" of them and with a big rematch at Wembley coming up in the Vertu Trophy final, can they muster up enough energy to spoil a night Birmingham have been waiting for practically the entire season?

So, as you may have gathered, Birmingham could secure their return to the Championship at the first time of asking with a win against Peterborough later.

But the rest of the promotion picture could be shaken up, with Wycombe looking to close the gap on Wrexham by winning at Huddersfield, who are just two points adrift of the top six.

Bolton can consolidate sixth with a win over Rotherham but will be wary of Reading who will expect to beat bottom club Shrewsbury at the Croud Meadow.

Wigan and Exeter meet looking to extend the gap to the bottom four, with six and nine points their respective buffers going into the game.

Mansfield and Leyton Orient clash with the O's also on the edge of the play-off race but, six points behind sixth place, knowing they have very little margin for error.

BBC Local Radio

Rights restrictions mean we cannot bring you audio coverage of tonight's games on this page.

But you can. of course, listen in to your local BBC radio station for commentary from the games in the area you reside.

We'll also be listening in to bring you the best of their punditry in text form during our live text commentary.

Image source, Getty Images

Will we be seeing a promotion party come the end of the night? As early as 8 April?!

Yes, Birmingham City could seal a return to the Championship if they beat Peterborough - but will Posh allow for such jubilation on their home turf or will Blues be made to wait?

Elsewhere, Huddersfield and Wycombe face off with the hopes of being able to make the jump themselves come the end of the season.

There are also four other games to enjoy as well as a spot of League Two action to keep you updated with as Chesterfield host Gillingham.

Stay tuned. Tonight could be a BIG one.