Okay, so technically Preston, Boro, and Cardiff are still in with a shout of claiming that final promotion spot, but to have included them would have ruined what I quietly thought was a corny but inspired title.

So, sorry Boro, PNE and Cardiff fans. For the purpose of this piece, the battle for sixth is between three Cities ? Hull, Coventry and Norwich. The bookies agree. Before last weekend, Sky Blues, Tigers and Canaries were all floating somewhere between 12/1 and 16/1 for promotion, while the shortest odds for Boro were 25/1.

City’s statement win at the weekend has tilted the balance in their favour slightly – Coral has listed them as ridiculously short as 8/1 for promotion – and, by contrast, Boro’s disappointing draw at the Riverside with Blackburn has seen them drift to as long as 200/1.
The wild card in all of this is Preston, whose win at Plymouth saw them leapfrog the Teessiders and go within a point of Hull, having played the same number of games. If you were a betting person, you?d have to say the value is with them. If PNE win their game in hand on us they go to 59 points ? just two points shy of the Canaries ? but are on offer at 150/1 with SkyBet compared to Hull?s 18/1.

For the punters, it seems PNE are very much under the radar but who knows. For now, I?m sticking with said three Cities.

One thing that can be guaranteed is that for no-one will the road to the playoffs and/or promotion be smooth and trouble-free. Betw...