Cardiff City, Lincoln City and Bolton Wanderers - who has the hardest fixture run-in? | OneFootball

Football League World analyses the respective run-ins of League One's top three

The title race in League One took a fresh turn on Saturday, when league leaders Cardiff City were put to the sword away at Plymouth Argyle, losing 5-2.

That opened up an opportunity for Lincoln City to cut the gap between themselves in second and Cardiff in first to just one point, which they did with victory at Mansfield Town.

Meanwhile, Bolton Wanderers were able to shave a point off and move 11 behind the Bluebirds, but they were forced to share the points for a third straight game against Blackpool and former manager Ian Evatt.

Now, Bolton have 12 games remaining, while the top two have 13, and even if the two at the top continue to pull away, the title race between Cardiff and Lincoln will at least be entertaining.

But who has the hardest run-in out of the three teams? And could Bolton perhaps stage a late push into the top two? Football League World has looked at the point per game averages of each of their remaining opponents to see who has it easier out of the current top three in the third tier.

Going off point per game averages in the remaining games, Michael Skubala's Imps currently have the seventh-toughest run-in throughout the entire division, sitting at 1.41 points per game.

Lincoln still have to travel to three of the other five sides in the division who are averaging two points per game or more at home throughout the campaign so far, one of which sees them head to the Welsh capital to play Cardiff in a fortnight's time.

They also have trips to Huddersfield Town and Stevenage to contend with, and while Reading and Exeter City aren't two-point-per-game sides at home, they're also difficult away games to contend with in the midst of a promotion battle.

The flip side to this is that they have some favourable home games against some of the worst travellers in the division, as Blackpool, Rotherham United, Leyton Orient and Wycombe Wanderers are still yet to come to Sincil Bank this season.

Luckily enough for Lincoln fans, the Imps are the best side away from home in the division, currently. That may take a hit between now and the end of the season, but if they can grind out wins against struggling opposition at home, and pick up points here and there away from home, a tough run-in on paper may not be too scary in reality.

On a point per game basis, Bolton and Cardiff's run-ins are just as difficult, sitting at 1.36, but with the Bluebirds still having to deal with an extra Tuesday night game, their run-in will be a little more tough on the legs, even if a win will see them move 14 points clear of the Trotters as it stands.

Brian Barry-Murphy's side still have to play both Lincoln and Bolton between now and the end of the season, but they'll take comfort that both of those games are at home.

In terms of top sides that Cardiff still have to travel to, the timings of trips to Huddersfield, Peterborough and Reading arguably couldn't have come at a worse time, as all three may still have their own play-off ambitions to play for towards the end of March and into April.

However, the sheer dominance that the Bluebirds have exhibited at home this season, winning 14 of their 17 games so far at the Cardiff City Stadium, should mean that the aforementioned visits of Bolton and Lincoln shouldn't be too frightening, and the rest of their home games, against Wycombe, Blackpool, Port Vale and Northampton Town, should result in maximum points.

With a healthy barrier to third, the focus will be on finishing first, and Cardiff have the edge over Lincoln in the run-in.

1 ? ? Bolton Wanderers

If Bolton are to stage a late surge into the top two, they'll be doing so with the advantage of having, on paper, the easiest run-in out of their rivals in the automatic promotion race.

Steven Scumacher's side still have to travel to South Wales to face Cardiff and Devon twice for meetings with Exeter and Plymouth between now and the end of the campaign, which will be rough on the legs.

But at home, they have the likes of Wycombe, Doncaster Rovers, Stevenage, Huddersfield and Luton Town still to make the journey to the Toughsheet Community Stadium.

All five average 1.06 points per game or less on their travels, and the Trotters themselves have lost just once in front of their home fans.

Realistically, Bolton will need to win at least eight or nine of their remaining 12 games to reach the top two. They'll need to ride their solid home form for that, while also hoping they can take as many points as possible on the road, and ideally not come away from Cardiff empty-handed, to make that a reality.

It's an improbable task, but not an impossible one for the Trotters.