FFC columnist Greg Farrimond assesses the most open relegation fight in years and predicts who will face the drop to the Championship come May.

As we fast approach the business end of the season, with the relegation battle hotting up, only Wigan grabbed a vital 3pts in the lower tier of the Premier League. Having witnessed a dismal Derby performance on Saturday, I see them as good as down but the question is, who is about to join them in those other two slots for the Championship this season?

One look at the bottom half of the table shows it as tight as it has been for some years with a mere 6pts separating Newcastle United and Reading. It really is a case of take your pick.

13th - Newcastle
14th - Wigan
15th - Sunderland
16th - Bolton
17th - Birmingham
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18th - Reading
19th - Fulham
20th - Derby

So who has what it takes to stay up in this division. On close analysis you would feel that Newcastle United have far too much quality to stay up given the players that Keegan has at his disposal. They are on a horrendous run of late but they have had some tough fixtures. Wigan are another club who are really starting to make inroads under Steve Bruce following the shaky spell that followed Chris Hutchings, and  has brought well and we look as solid as we have done for a long time.
Birmingham like Wigan has a reasonable squad with Premier League class and have improved since Alex McLeish took the helm. He has had some good results; most recently the draw against Arsenal where new signing James McFadden is finding his feet and scoring regularly.

I can't quite put my finger on how Bolton will perform in the run in. Nicolas Anelka was a huge loss in January and given they have the toughest run-in of all those down the bottom, I fear Gary Megson has one hell of a fight on his hand. Their performances in the UEFA Cup have been superb, but you kind of wonder whether it is slowly becoming a distraction to them; the players certainly seem to have different attitude for this competition.

The three teams I really fear for are Fulham, Reading and Sunderland and that is simply due to having very poor squads. Roy Hodgson faces a huge task in keeping the West London Club in the Premier League who continually shoots themselves in the foot in games. They have shown a bit of fight in recent weeks and were once again on the end of a poor decision, this time against West Ham.

Steve Coppell's Reading was the surprise package of the Premier League last year and like Wigan the year before them; the dreaded second season syndrome has hit the club. They are in free-fall and seem to be getting poorer by the week. They have potential match winners in Doyle, Harper, Kitson and Hunt and they need to turn in some performances if the Royals have any hope of staying up.

Roy Keane's Sunderland has in my mind the toughest task of the lot. With the exceptions of Richardson, Jones and Gordon; the squad is pretty much a Championship one. Keane deserves great credit in what was always going to be a tough season but you can't help feel that they are punching far above the weight and can see a slump setting in, given their remaining fixtures.

They say the League table never lies and it certainly won't come May. It is going to be one hell of a battle which could end up going down to goal difference at the end. This is how I believe the bottom eight will finish come May.

13th - Birmingham
14th - Wigan
15th - Newcastle
16th - Bolton
17th - Reading
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18th - Sunderland
19th - Fulham
20th - Derby

Be interested to hear you own thoughts and predictions on the most open relegation battle in years. 

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