Swansea City managed to overhaul arch-rivals Cardiff City on the final day of the regular Championship season to secure third place in the table and look worthy favourites to go on and secure promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs at a general 5/2. The play-offs are a great spectacle for the neutral at the end of a long season but are nerve-wracking for all those involved and it’s not uncommon that the disappointment of defeat can severely impact on a team’s performances the following season. You need look no further back than last year when Swindon Town lost out in the League One play-off final against Millwall and suffered the heartbreak of relegation less than 12 months later.
The same fate hopefully won’t befall the Swans, who were widely regarded as the best footballing side in the Championship this season and are now gaining the rewards for a continuation of the policy established when the side were still in League One three years ago. Brendan Rogers‘ team have progressed year upon year and their squad now has a strength in depth which it might have lacked in the last two seasons. In addition, Scott Sinclair has developed into genuine goalscorer and all of the Welsh side’s players seem comfortable with the ball at their feet. But that shouldn’t gloss over the fact that Swansea conceded just 11 goals at the Liberty Stadium this season, which suggests semi-final opponents Nottingham Forest will have their work cut out if they don’t take a lead from the home leg of their tie. Forest (a general 3/1) are a bit of an enigma as they finished the season strongly and have some very gifted players. But manager Billy Davies seems to be at continual loggerheads with the club’s owners and they lost their nerve in the play-offs last season. That may linger in the back of the minds of some and this is a team very capable of self-destruction.
Cardiff looked poised to go up automatically just a few weeks ago but the way they capitulated to hand second spot to Norwich may well have repercussions in the play-offs. Dave Jones certainly has a big job on his hands raising morale for their semi-final with Reading, especially as his much-vaunted forward-line has lost the plot at the same time as his defence has started to consistently ship goals. The Bluebirds (11/4 with Betfred and totesport) may have reached the final last year but look very vulnerable against a Reading side that’s been able to take their foot off the gas in the last couple of weeks. There should certainly be plenty of goals between these two but I fancy Brian McDermott‘s Royals (3/1 with extrabet and Skybet) to take their place at Wembley before losing out to Swansea.
