Championship / Andrew French / 01 May 2009 / Leave a comment

Andrew French makes his picks as nine months of football comes down to one afternoon to decide an automatic promotion place, who will contest the play-offs and the remaining relegation spot. Best Bet: Back Sheffield Utd to beat C Palace at [1.67].

As far as I'm concerned, you've got to follow those teams whose fate will be sealed by the final set of fixtures. Okay, I accept that nerves and the need to succeed will have a bearing, but give me a team with a whole season's hopes to play for against a side that would have every reason to be thinking about clearing their lockers for the holiday season.

So, in that spirit, I am making Sheffield United my bet of the day. The Blades have come with a tremendous late surge that has thrust them into the automatic promotion battle - six wins in eight games at just the right time. What's also key is that they are not letting goals in, having conceded just one in their last four outings.

If they win at Crystal Palace, and Birmingham fail to beat Reading, the Blades go up. And they couldn't run into better opposition than Palace when their need is so great. The Eagles have won just once in eight and have looked distinctly mid-table for a while now.

Palace may have home advantage, but with ten wins on the road this season United have shown that they are hardy travellers. They have won recently at Reading and Cardiff and they will be roared on by a set of fans as noisy as any in the Championship - expect plenty of choruses of the 'Greasy Chip Butty' song in the away section.

Of course the other element to factor in is that Palace manager Neil Warnock is an ex-United manager and a Blades fan - as well as being someone who is be delighted to wreck a party when it's least expected. But even with the Warnock factor considered, I still feel this is an occasion when the Blades will step up to the plate.

So, I am backing United at [1.67] - whether that will be good enough to earn them that second automatic spot is something I can't call. I think the Reading/Birmingham game is the hardest of the closing-day fixtures to read and one that I will be leaving well alone.

At the other end of the table, I think the Canaries of Norwich will be sick as the proverbial parrots come Sunday night. They still have a chance of avoiding the drop, but losing at home to Reading on Monday has taken their fate out of their hands - and as it is, I think basement boys Charlton will deprive them of the win they need anyway.

The East Anglian outfit looked like a side doomed in Monday's live game - and with only one away since mid-November, it would be asking a lot of them to win, without the do-or-die element of the day's game. Allied to that, Charlton have suddenly found a bit of grit, albeit far too late, and their defeat at Derby last weekend was the first in six games. Therefore, the advice is to lay Norwich at [2.12].

Just to confirm my feelings that Norwich are doomed to the drop, I'm also going to back the draw in the only game that could save them: Plymouth v Barnsley.

The Canaries' defeat on Monday ended Argyle's relegation fears, and a point at Home Park will be good enough to keep Barnsley up as well. Drawing games has become an art for the Tykes in recent weeks: they have taken a point from four of their last five games.

Sometimes not needing to win can leave a team in no man's land when it comes to deciding their approach, but I can foresee a pretty tepid affair with the home side having nothing to play for, and the away side needing merely to avoid losing. Therefore, it's the draw for me at [3.15].