Birmingham City's defeat to Barnsley on Monday was bad news for their automatic promotion prospects.

Even with a game in hand, Blues now have to rely on others if they are to earn the prized position in the top two that has, for the last four months, looked theirs for the taking.

But Blues' pointless Easter also left them sittting next to their two Midland rivals West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Championship table. And the odds are now shortening on all three of them ending up in the play-offs.

Blues and Wolves have both gone up via the play-offs before in the last five years, after previous failures. But Albion's only experience, six years ago, was a painful one. Which of them, if Blues fail to go up automatically, and assuming Albion and Wolves both remain in the top six on May 7, is the best equipped to go all the way this time round? Here we assess the prospects of all three clubs.

BIRMINGHAM CITY
Position: 3rd
Played: 41
Pts: 74
GD +21

POSITIVES: Blues might be coming off the back of successive defeats for only the second time this season. And their goalscoring problems are well chronicled. But, at the same time, Bruce still has the meanest defence in the league. Colin Doyle has done excellently since coming in for Maik Taylor two months ago. And Blues have leaked just four goals in their last eight league games.

Their fixture list, although looking the hardest run-in, may also prove a blessing. They have three of their fellow five promotion contenders to come, Southampton this Saturday, Wolves next weekend and that potentially fraught return to Deepdale on the final day.

Next Tuesday night's meeting with a Leicester City side under new management and the visit to St Andrew's of an impressive Sheffield Wednesday, already looking likely contenders for next season, look tricky games too.

But Blues' problems this season have come against the Championship's weaker sides, nine of their 11 defeats having come against teams in the bottom third. And they have an undoubted capacity for raising their game in the big matches.

The other plus point is that Stephen Clemence, their best player this season, is expected to return this weekend to bolster a team who, even in defeat, created as many good chances in one game as they had done for weeks at Oakwell on Monday.

NEGATIVES: Maybe the pressure of being pre-season promotion favourites has caught up with Blues at the wrong time. And the mood among their fans by the final whistle at Oakwell on Monday was almost as ugly as the events on the pitch.

Blues had their biggest away following of the season behind them and, if they are to bounce back, they will need that continued support.

The squeakiest bums in the Blues dressing room are clearly up front. To be averaging less than a goal a game in the league since Christmas tells its own story. Top scorer Gary McSheffrey has so far only shown brief glimpses of his best form since returning from his long suspension. And to have not yet had the services of Andy Cole has been a bitter blow.

With Nicklas Bendtner (one in 20), Rowan Vine (one in 14) Cameron Jerome (one in 13) and McSheffrey (none in eight) all firing blanks, and DJ Campbell so much more effective coming off the bench, a fit Cole is an urgent requirement.

HOW'S LIFE IN THE HOT SEAT? Whatever the next three weeks (and beyond?) has in store for Steve Bruce, he has been through worse. He not only has the looks that suggest he can ride a punch, he has the mental strength too.

He hurts more than anyone when his team loses, but he has few equals when it comes to putting on a brave face, especially in the press room after the game, where he regularly offers a shining example of the how to take defeat with dignity.

But he is not a man to take things lying down. And that is reflected in the resilience of his team, who have so regularly shown this season their capacity to respond to a defeat.

WHO'S LEFT?
April 14 Southampton (h)
April 17 Leicester City (a)
April 22 Wolves (a)
April 28 Sheffield Wednesday (h)
May 6 Preston North End (a)

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WEST BROMWICH ALBION
Position: 4th
Played: 42
Pts: 70
GD: +20

POSITIVES: It looked like Albion had timed their run to perfection when they went top of the table for the first time on February 24, only for the Baggies to then suddenly hit the wall.

But Tony Mowbray's men have at least steadied the ship, even if only away from home. Of their two successive victories on their travels, Monday's at Norwich may have been the most vital, if only for the fact that top scorer Diomansy Kamara ended his lean run.

The Senegal striker had started to remind the Albion fans of the goal-shy player whose failure to find the net so regularly used to leave Bryan Robson feeling depressed last season.

But Kamara's 22nd goal of the season ought to have given him the confidence to start scoring again. And he, as much as the talismanic presence of Jason Koumas is surely the key.

If they can get it right at home to Sheffield Wednesday tomorrow night, Albion's run-in could prove the easiest of the teams around them. Burnley may well be all but safe, with nothing to play for by the time they go to Turf Moor. That is also the case the following week at Coventry. By the time Barnsley come to The Hawthorns on the final day, the Yorkshire side may already be relegated.

When it comes to the play-offs, then Albion's apparent preference to try and play their football more like Barcelona than Barnsley may make them the best suited for the different test of knockout football.

NEGATIVES: Curtis Davies's loss for the rest of the season was as a big blow on top of a defence already deprived of the forgotten Chris Perry. Injuries keep piling up in a department that looks their most susceptible. What would they do if Dean Kiely got injured? In addition, for all his undoubted talent, Jason Koumas remains too mercurial a talent to be totally relied upon.

As for the idea of this Albion side only making the play-offs (and even that has been in doubt!), how big a psychological blow will that be, given the way they were toutecd for automatic promotion back in August?

HOW'S LIFE IN THE HOT SEAT? After coming south from Scotland with an unblemished record, the much sought-after Tony Mowbray has been well and truly tested by the far more stressful rigours of English football.

He was not helped by Albion's inspired run under caretaker manager Nigel Pearson in the wake of Bryan Robson's shock Septemner sacking which meant that, by the time he took over in October, anything lower than third place by season's end would be construed as failure.

But he has had to start his rebuilding of the Baggies hampered by having components of the previous regime still in the dressing room. And, although there are times when his patience has appeared stretched to the point of tetchiness, he appears to have come through it all.

WHO'S LEFT?
April 13 Sheffield Wednesday (h)
April 23 Burnley (a)
April 28 Coventry City (a)
May 6 Barnsley (h)

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WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Position: 5th
Played: 42
Pts: 69
GD: -1

POSITIVES: Wolves' purple patch came on the back of the signing of Andy Keogh, to supplement his fellow Irishman Stephen Ward up front and the exciting wing play of Michael Kightly.

Their three young Molineux musketeers all still have big parts to play. But after four games without a win (including that extraordinary 6-0 home defeat to Southampton), the Easter Monday victory over Hull City was a reminder that there are goals elsewhere in the team.

Jay Bothroyd and Seyi Oloifinjana, their eight-goal top scorer from midfield, could yet have key roles too. Monday also perhaps crucially saw the restoration of the Gary Breen/Jody Craddock central defensive partnership that served Blues so well.

Molineux morale is now quietly confident again for their four remaining fixtures, of which their two home games (promotion rivals Blues and relegation scrappers Queens Park Rangers) may prove the hardest.

Of their two away games, this Saturday's opponents Crystal Palace are out of contention. The final day trip to Leicester City may be a pleasant omen following yesterday's appointment of Nigel Worthington.

Wolves won on the final day of their league programme at Worthington's Norwich City prior to going up four years ago. And they repeated the feat at Carrow Road on last season's final day.

NEGATIVES: After an inspired season, Matt Murray's fitness has become a real cause for concern. The moment he jarred his knee at Coventry last month was when Wolves started to wobble.

Although they managed to win without him on Monday, in the four previous games when he did appear to be struggling, they picked up just one point.

If ever a player deserved a bit of luck, it's the likable Murray. Everything is crossed at Molineux that the man who kept goal all the way through to their play-off triumph five years ago comes through the next month or so in one piece.

HOW'S LIFE IN THE HOT SEAT? Mick McCarthy will try to convince you that he's as under pressure as the next man.

But as that amazing reaction from their fans at Molineux proved in the 6-0 home defeat to Southampton, he has an enormous tank of terrace goodwill to fall back on.

This has always been effectively a free season for Wolves, a 'gimme', in which any improvement on mere relegation avoidance was a bonus.

The fact that the pressure is off McCarthy and his men, a factor that would probably no longer be in their favour if they are in this same position in 12 months' time, is an added bonus.

WHO'S LEFT?
April 14 Crystal Palace (a)
April 22 BLUES (h)
April 28 QPR (h)
May 6 Leicester City (a)

* Who do you think will go up?  Who is more likely to lose their nerve? Tell us at the messageboard.

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