Championship play-offs

By David Lee Wheatley

One from four - who will hit the jackpot?

Watford, Brighton & Hove Albion, Crystal Palace and Leicester City ended the regular season in the Championship play-off positions, giving them all hope of achieving promotion to the promised land of the Premier League.

Watford had to better Hull City's result to go up automatically to the top-flight, but they unexpectedly lost 2-1 at home to Leeds United. Up at the KC Stadium, Hull grabbed a 2-2 draw that was just enough to see them grab second spot behind their opponents on the day, Cardiff City.

Gianfranco Zola's men will have to pick themselves up again as they face Leicester City, Nigel Pearson's charges having sneaked past Bolton and Forest with a 3-2 victory at the City Ground on a tense final day of the league season.

Leicester's players will be buzzing after that result at the home of their local rivals and will look to capitalise on Watford's disappointment at missing out on automatic promotion.

Watford have played some sublime football this season and have already beaten Leicester twice during the regular campaign, but the players will have refocus after their loss to Leeds and will also have to do the job without the suspended Troy Deeney. Leicester could just hold the momentum going into this tie and Zola will have his work cut out to stop it.

The other two teams in promotion contention both had a say in the fight to avoid the drop this past weekend, with Brighton executing a 3-2 win over relegated Wolves and Palace consigning Peterborough to the dreaded drop with victory by the same score.

Now, they must face-off against one another in an encounter that looks closely-matched and very tough to call.

Palace have stuttered their way to the play-offs, having looked strong contenders for the top two spots earlier in the season. But, their win over Posh will have lifted their spirits no end.

Gus Poyet has led the Seagulls to a fantastic fourth place and they're looking good going into their clash with bitter rivals Palace. The south coast side have played some wonderfully attractive football in securing a play-off shot and they appear favourites to make the final at Wembley.

Veteran striker Kevin Phillips will something to say on the matter, as the 39-year-old seeks a Palace promotion for what could be a career swansong. The one-time European Golden Boot winner was on the scoresheet at the weekend and will be determined to fire Ian Holloway's boys back to the big-time.

It's all shaping up to be an exciting end to the Championship season, as four top sides compete for elevation to the rich pickings of the Premier League.

Twitter: @davewh1980