Ipswich Town v Middlesbrough: Kim Hellberg's top-two Championship admission
JUST a few months ago, Middlesbrough's late-season trip to Portman Road was circled in red ink by their expectant followers.
Many might have even envisaged that it would be the place where their automatic promotion could be confirmed. Plenty has changed since.
Boro's top-two bid has veered off the rails badly and they head to Suffolk on the back of a horribly-timed six-match winless run.
Kim Hellberg's side still have a sniff of finishing in the top two, but it looks unlikely. They dropped to fifth in midweek.
Victory would move them within a point of Town, having played a game more. Millwall remain in the equation, but the real battle for second place looks to between Ipswich and form horse Southampton.
The Saints host Ipswich on April 28. That looks to be the consequential game in terms of earning the right to accompany Coventry City to the top flight. Not the game on Sunday, as most expected in late winter.
Hellberg is remaining coy over the availability of Hayden Hackney and Morgan Whittaker, with Jeremy Sarmiento and Matt Targett also coming off in last weekend's loss to Portsmouth.
The Boro chief must decide whether to err on the side of caution regarding injured players, ahead of likely participation in the end-of-season lottery or gamble with the club’s bid not quite over yet.
Pretty much acknowledging that Boro need to win to maintain their slim top-two hopes, the Swede said: "You never know what will happen, but to be fair, you do the maths and we probably need to win to put ourselves in a good position to be second."