When the EFL Championship play-off final is - will Ipswich, Middlesbrough or Millwall be there? | OneFootball

The trio of sides are currently locked in an enthralling promotion battle

After the final international break of the Championship season, attention will fully turn to the drama at both ends of then table with a maximum of eight matches remaining.

As usual, the Championship has well and truly lived up to the billing when it comes to the chaos and unpredictability it so often provides, with this season also providing the most 'open' second tier we have seen for a while.

With many sides who were expected to be in the promotion race at the start of the campaign flattering to deceive, it has well and truly opened the door for clubs such as Coventry City, Middlesbrough, Millwall and Hull City to try and make their own slices of history.

Ahead of the campaign's final stretch, the Sky Blues currently have a nine-point cushion over Boro, who are two points in front of both Ipswich Town and the Lions - who played out a 1-1 draw last time out - and now just five in front of the Tigers, who are also looking over their shoulders at the chasing pack of Southampton, Wrexham and Derby County.

Although it has been known for a long time that the regular season will end on Saturday, May 2nd, with all 12 fixtures simultaneously kicking off at 12:30PM, the schedule for the post-season lottery of the play-offs has now been revealed, but who will be involved?

EFL Championship play-off dates revealed ahead of final regular season fixtures

It has often been described as 'the best way to go up' by players who have enjoyed a taste of Wembley success in the Championship's showpiece event, and several fanbases will be dreaming of basking in the glory of their side's potential success in just under two months' time.

It has been confirmed by the EFL that the first legs of the respective play-off semi-finals will take place on Friday, May 8th at 8PM - for the sides who finish sixth and third - with the two who finish fifth and fourth starting their two-legged affair on Saturday, May 9th in a 12:30PM kick-off.

The reverse legs have been pencilled in for Monday, May 11th and Tuesday, May 12th, with both games also scheduled to kick-off at 8PM.

Whichever of the four sides are then successful enough to initially reach North London will have a 12 or 11-day recovery period, with the play-off final confirmed to kick off at 3PM on Saturday, May 23rd to kickstart the Spring Bank Holiday weekend.

Last season's final, of course, saw Sunderland end an eight-year exile from the Premier League with a dramatic 2-1 comeback victory over Sheffield United, with Tommy Watson scoring in the dying seconds of the encounter before a crowd of 82,718.

Who will reach the Championship play-off final amid Middlesbrough, Ipswich Town, Millwall and Hull City promotion tussle

With five points currently separating the four teams, it is anybody's guess as to which sides out of Middlesbrough, Ipswich, Millwall and Hull are more likely to make the play-off final at this moment in time.

Ipswich, of course, have a game in hand over Kim Hellberg's side, who occupy second at present, meaning they will leapfrog the Reds if they match or better each one of their results until the end of the season.

There is another twist in that Middlesbrough still have to face off against the Suffolk and South London sides, with their encounter against the Lions coming in a lunchtime kick-off slot at the Riverside Stadium on Good Friday.

According to Opta's 'The Analyst' supercomputer, though, the table is expected to finish in its current order of Middlesbrough going up automatically, whilst Ipswich, Millwall, Hull and Southampton finish third to sixth respectively.

However, it is Alex Neil and Sergej Jakirovic's teams who currently have the biggest chances of achieving play-off glory at 83.44 and 73.78 percent, based off the aforementioned forecast.