Chris Dunlavy

TEST: Boss Paul Ince

Just as one team generally emerges from the pack to gatecrash the play-offs, so one sinking stone occasionally plummets into trouble from a place of apparent safety.
Hull City are the most recent example, falling from eighth at Christmas to bottom in May during the Covid-hit 2019-20 campaign.

To that end, keep an eye on Reading. The Royals will probably be okay and, unlike Hull, have not used January to sell their two best players.

But having started like a train, Paul Ince’s side have won just four of their last 17 matches.

Over that period, only ...