Watford & Southampton will be buzzing after Chris Davies admits Birmingham City play-off defeat | OneFootball

Watford and Southampton, on paper, have the easiest fixture run-in ahead of the March international break

Birmingham City saw their play-off hopes take a hit on Monday night, when they suffered a rare home defeat to title-chasing Middlesbrough.

The gap between Wrexham in sixth and the Blues, who now sit 12th, stands at eight points with 11 games remaining, and the feeling amongst certain Birmingham fans is that time is running out to climb above the rest of the chasing pack and into the top six.

Indeed, we're in for yet another run-in that may see the final play-off spot decided on the final day yet again. Last year, five teams battled for the final two places in the top six, but how many will be in the mix this season?

According to Birmingham boss Chris Davies, after the Boro defeat, we'll have a better indication of the sides who will have the best chances once we head into the international break at the end of the month.

Then, there will be seven games remaining and 21 points to play for. If the gap is still as large as eight, it may be too much to overcome, and another year in the Championship will be on the cards.

Watford and Southampton have the best four-game stretch ahead of the play-off run-in

That'll be bad news for some, but not for Watford and Southampton, who, on paper, have the easiest run of fixtures over the coming weeks ahead of the March international break.

Tonda Eckert's Saints side is the form team out of the cluster of sides in the mix currently, having gone unbeaten in their last eight Championship games, winning six of them.

Southampton do have an FA Cup tie to navigate this weekend away at Premier League outfit, Fulham, which means that their four league games are being crammed into two weeks ahead of the break, but there are favourable fixtures there.

Games against sides down near the bottom in West Brom and Oxford United, the latter at home, to start and end this run of games should be ones that Southampton target to win. Similarly, they welcome Norwich City in three games' time, and by then, Philippe Clement's short-handed Canaries may have little to play for, and the Saints will be primed to take advantage.

They, unfortunately, do have a trip to league leaders Coventry City, too, but if Southampton can take anything from the CBS Arena, that'll give them a boost that not much else will. Otherwise, nine points out of 12 will keep them well in the mix, with them just four points behind currently, anyway.

As for Watford, their run-in is the easiest in terms of the current average position of sides yet to play. Ed Still has started to settle into his new role in the Vicarage Road dugout well, and two wins over Derby County and Bristol City in their last three have them well positioned to gain some momentum heading into the run-in.

The Hornets play two of the sides currently in the bottom three in the next four, Sheffield Wednesday next Tuesday and Leicester City in the final game before the break. In between those are a trip to out-of-form Stoke City and a home game against the current sixth-placed side, Wrexham.

That battle with Phil Parkinson's side at Vicarage Road will be massive. Currently, they're six points adrift of Wrexham, so a win to cut that gap further, with wins against sides nearer the bottom alongside it, would put Watford in a great position going into the final seven games.

Wrexham actually have the hardest four-game run heading into the international break

Currently, Wrexham are four points above Southampton in seventh, and if they can keep that barrier intact into the international break, then critics will have no choice but to tip their caps, as they, on paper, are in for a difficult two-week run heading into the break.

First, they have the small matter of Chelsea coming to the Racecourse Ground in the FA Cup this weekend, which will obviously take a lot out of Phil Parkinson's side. Then, they take on the best away side in the division, Hull City, three days later.

Swansea City come to the Racecourse afterwards, but then Wrexham have to travel to Watford, as mentioned earlier, and Sheffield United, who may see that game as their final chance to legitimise their play-off hopes going into the final stages of the campaign.

So, not only do Watford and Southampton have the easiest run-in, but the side they're aiming to catch has a tricky set of games to navigate.

And this actually could be a good thing for the likes of Birmingham, too. If Chris Davies' admission is correct, you'd imagine that the Blues will need to be between four and six points behind the top six come the Easter weekend, when action resumes.

Who will be in that race remains to be seen, but there's no doubting that the play-off race will throw some exciting twists and turns between now and May 2, starting with this four-game stretch before the international break.