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Play-off drama should be given top-level stage
DONCASTER Rovers manager Sean O'Driscoll thinks the Premier League needs to get involved in the drama of the play-off system.
According to O'Driscoll, it would not only be a guaranteed money spinner but would also spice up the race for Europe and give promoted clubs a better chance of staying up.
Although Rovers have yet to play in the top flight of English football, they stand on the brink of a return to the second tier for the first time in 50 years.
Defeat at Cheltenham last weekend may have cost the club automatic promotion, but O'Driscoll's men now aim to go up via the League One play-offs.
Tonight they visit Southend United in the semi-final first leg with the second leg to follow next Friday at the Keepmoat Stadium. Whoever wins will play Leeds United or Carlisle United in the final at Wembley.
O'Driscoll, a play-off winner five years ago with Bournemouth, said: "If there were no play-offs, we would have gone up this season automatically as the third-placed club – but I am still a big fan of the system and I can't believe that, sooner or later, there will not be play-offs in the Premier League. I am gobsmacked that it's not happened before now.
"It is too much of a money-making thing for the Premier League to totally ignore and I am sure it will come about in one form or another very soon – whether for the fourth European spot or the last relegation place. The chairmen will see the pound signs and it will arouse interest in everybody.
"You only have to see what the play-offs have done for the other divisions to understand why. A club in the bottom four at Christmas can still be talking about the play-offs if they have a good run.
"In the Premier League, the teams with the strongest squads are always at the top – but if you are eighth or ninth you are probably only a few points off being relegated. It's a money-making machine and it's about the income they could generate. If you are a Premier League chairman thinking you are going down, you might as well go down earning a few quid."
Although there is officially no prize money for winning the League One play-off final, Rovers, or Leeds for that matter, will make an extra 5m next season if they are playing in the Championship. All those involved in the League One play-offs receive 40,000 in television money and normally around 450,000 in shared gate receipts.
When the play-offs were first introduced 21 years ago, the club that finished fourth from bottom
in the top flight was involved in a play-off with the three clubs who had missed out on automatic promotion, but that system was abandoned after two seasons.
Rovers will clearly need to shake off last weekend's disappointment tonight if they are to go on to achieve their target of winning promotion.
Southend, who finished sixth in the table, are the 'form team', according to O'Driscoll, having lost only once in the last 15 games.
"They are the form team coming into these play-offs – which is always a bonus – but good runs have to come to an end sooner or later," he said. "I know Southend are quite confident because a lot of their players have been in this situation before – but you can still make the same mistakes.
"The fact that you have been there before in any walk of life gives you a better understanding of a situation. If you have been married before, you know what it's like if you get married again – but plenty of people have been married three or four times.
"We have another opportunity and, if we can come through this, it will be a really successful way to get promoted. It will be a close game and if you look at play-off results down the years, teams always find it difficult to win their home games."
O'Driscoll was keeping his team selection under wraps last night, but midfielder Paul Green (ankle) and striker Jason Price (hamstring) are expected to shake off knocks.
Defenders Adam Lockwood and Steve Roberts and midfielders Sean McDaid, Mark Wilson and Martin Woods are still ruled out by injury.
Southend manager Steve Tilson will be back in the dug-out tonight after serving a two-match touchline ban. Tilson is trying to lead the Shrimpers back into the Championship after being relegated last season.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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