The Race Is On!!!
By Matt Jones
February 16 2005
Who's up for the race, its fast and its furious. But whos got that all important final push, who has the squad depth and that desperation to win the title of League One, theres many teams in it but whos got the best chance.
The chequered flag may have been flown in the Premiership but the race for promotion in League One is still as fast and furious as it was at the start of the season, whilst who will get promoted is anybody’s guess. There are three teams up there for automatic promotion in League One and you could stretch as far as saying that Hull and Luton are surprise’s whilst Tranmere were expected to finish in and around the top four places at the start of the season. In this article, I have a look at the chances of Tranmere gaining promotion into the Coca-Cola Championship division. The top of the League One Table shows Luton top on 66 points, with Hull in second on 59 points having played a game less and then Tranmere on 58 points having played one game more than second placed Hull. Tranmere’s chances on taking the easy and automatic promotion route all depends on how they manage to pick themselves up over the coming weeks, after four straight 1-1 draws, after being one goal ahead in all four of these games. Another important objective for Tranmere is to be consistent, something they really haven’t been this season, and have therefore never really managed to put a good winning run together. If Rovers did manage to win say, seven games in a row then they would be very well placed to go up automatically, as this seven game winning streak would include a victory over second placed Hull, among other teams. Hull themselves are not in the best of form. They have not managed to win since Peter Taylor picked up the December manager of the month award, but now leading scorer Stuart Elliot is back in training and applying the petrol for what will be a thrilling promotion race. Tranmere also need to keep key players away from suspension and injury. Players such as Iain Hume, Mark Rankine and Ryan Taylor, whom were all bitterly missed by Rovers in their poor display at Prenton Park against Colchester on Saturday just gone. Tranmere also need to tighten up there defence if they are to get second or even first spot. Tranmere have only kept one clean sheet since December 10, coming against Walsall on 28 December. This is quite a poor record for a team in third spot. Overall, I would rate Tranmere’s chances of grabbing second place equal to the chances of Hull City. Each team has the players to push on to grab that second automatic promotion spot, so I suggest you fasten your seat belts, as the final third of the season is likely to be much more of a bumpy and tough ride as the other two thirds.