'Advantage us' - Derby County tipped to secure play-off place over Hull City and Wrexham | OneFootball

FLW's Derby County fan pundit Shaun Woodward has tipped his club to secure the final play-off spot in the Championship.

The Championship play-off race is hotting up, with Wrexham, Hull City and Derby County all vying for the final spot in the top six.

Just a single point separates Derby in eighth and Wrexham in sixth heading into the final weekend of fixtures, with Hull sat in the middle level on points with the latter.

However, the Rams seem to have the most favourable final fixture, as they host an out-of-form Sheffield United side.

Meanwhile, Hull will host Norwich City, who’ve been one of the hottest teams in the division since the turn of the year, whilst Wrexham face a difficult game at home to promotion-chasing Middlesbrough.

With that in mind, John Eustace’s side look the most likely team to occupy sixth place come late Saturday afternoon, and it’s fair to say the nerves are starting to kick in around Pride Park.

Ipswich Town v Southampton outcome could play a huge part in the race for sixth place

Ahead of the dramatic final day in the Championship, FLW spoke to their resident Derby County expert, Shaun Woodward, about his side's chances of pipping both Hull and Wrexham to sixth place.

“I think a lot depends on the result of the Ipswich vs Southampton game," Shaun told us.

“If Southampton can get a draw or a win, which they’re more than capable of doing because they’re in excellent form, then it leads us into a really exciting final day.

“Second, third and fourth are still fighting it out for that runners-up spot, which obviously means Middlesbrough would go strong against Wrexham, and that would make it a lot tougher for Wrexham.

“However, if Ipswich won that game [against Southampton], then Boro are likely to rest players for their semi-final.

“That then gives Wrexham the upper hand for claiming that sixth spot, so everything is riding on that game.

“Hull haven’t been in great form at all recently, they’ve stumbled into potential play-offs, and they’ve got a really tough game against Norwich.

“Norwich have been in great form since Christmas as well, so from where they were at the start of the season to now, they’ve had an excellent run.

“I don’t think they’re going to go there and make it easy for Hull, so two potentially very tricky games for Wrexham and Hull," Shaun concluded.

Derby County tipped to sneak into play-offs with favourable final fixture

Shifting the focus back to Derby, Shaun believes the Rams have the most favourable fixture of the three sides gunning for third place, and tipped them to capitialise as their play-off rivals falter.

“On paper, Derby have got the easiest game playing against Sheffield United, who’ve got nothing to play for," he told us.

“However, under Chris Wilder — the last game of the season — he’s not happy with how they’ve been playing at the moment — he’s going to want them to go to Derby and ruin our party.

“Our home form has been very good recently, so it’s probably advantage us, if Southampton get a result Ipswich.

“I do think Wrexham and Hull will drop points on that last day, which means we’ve got a chance if we win to go up into that sixth spot.

“It’s going to be really exciting. It’s great we’re even talking about this after 45 games because I did think our season was probably over three or four games ago.

“It just shows how much fight we’ve got in this team because we’re decimated by injuries to key players in key positions.

“The fact that we’re still fighting and talking about getting into that sixth place is unbelievable.

“So whatever happens now, I’m really proud of the team and John Eustace.

“It’s exciting for the future that we’re going to have a last day shootout — it’s brilliant.”

The final day of the Championship season looks set to be a classic, and with the pressure on Hull and Wrexham, Derby will hope they can leapfrog both sides come Saturday afternoon.