Derby County vs Cardiff City-Tuesday

Yeah, I know. Never eff with a winning streak. But I can't think of a match not involving our heroes that will garner more attention than, arguably, any other in club history. A Bluebird victory means we're probably looking at the playoffs. A draw or Ram triumph means that it'll be an extended period of squeaky bum time.
Derby Co. have lost three in a row, including at home Saturday against Middlesbrough. They’ve won only 2 out of their last 13 to tumble from 2nd place. Despite this, they’re still just a point behind Millwall, along with Brentford, for the last playoff spot. They’re +5 on goal difference to the Bees, so the motivation should be there, but the performances haven’t been.
Cardiff have been almost as good as we have, although two recent losses to Wolves and Villa give a glimmer of hope. They may well stub their toe at Pride Park, if Derby can muster some gumption and get some mojo back somehow. Anything but a Bluebird win is good for us, so I’d gladly take a draw.
Big difference being down two points instead of four with two to play. And we’re a helluva lot more fun to watch!
I suspect a goodly number of our brethren around the planet will be watching this one. I’m working like many of you, but I plan to try and see as much of it as possible. Our odds of earning automatic promotion are pretty much on the line here. We need a little help. I’m optimistic we’ll get it.

 

I owe my friend Chris, who's a Derby fan 2 pints for the win today, totally worth it!

 

Watch it and smile, folks! Props to Rowett and his men for pulling on their big boy pants and really gettin’ after it. They played like a desperate team after Cardiff scored and, lo and behold, reeled off three unanswered strikes. The door’s ajar friends, thanks to the denizens of Pride Park. Buckle up y’all. This rollercoaster is headed up for the last big drop of the ride.

 

I thought I would be thrilled that we still have a shot at automatic promotion after Derby's shocking win, but instead my thoughts immediately went to...

• What if Norwood had kept possession of the ball rather than kicking it straight out of bounds in the 93rd minute against Brentford?
• What if Odoi had just passed the ball to any of the 5 unmarked teammates around him rather than trying to dribble the ball in the 81st minute against QPR?
• What if Johansen's shot in the 88th minute against Bolton had gone to the left of the post rather than bouncing off of it?

The thought of any one of those moments keeping us out of automatic promotion made me unexpectedly glum. I know that these things go both ways and that there were plenty of other times in the season, like against Preston and earlier against Bolton, when we rescued a point late in the game. This team deserves the second spot more than any other in history, but they'll need just a little more luck to make it happen.

... plus win against Sunderland and Birmingham - we need to see this undefeated streak out to the end!

 

Wow that is absolutely shocking defending, such terrible decision making in the back!

With the exception of a few red cards, what more can you ask for?

 

I agree with my right honourable friend from the Republic of South Texas. The what if game is tempting, but we shouldn't be unbeaten for 22 in a row. I'm thinking of the three to half a dozen times since Dec. 5th that our opponents have missed sitters in front of our open goal. I'm also thinking of the relative fitness we've enjoyed during this run. We've had more than our share of bad luck since relegation. It's about time things started leveling in our favor. It won't matter if we end up in the playoffs, but this streak has been the most enjoyable experience for me since I started supporting the club. If we win these last two, I'll be all summer, regardless of how the table ends up. Compared to where we were between Martin Jol and Slavisa Jokanavic, it's starker than the difference between Yuma, AZ and the Snowball Room at Mammoth Cave.

 

Forget about those thoughts MM and go back ten weeks ago and revel in the accuracy of your statements then. In the 13 matches since your post, Fulham have 10 wins and 3 draws (2.54 points per match).

The most unfortunate thing now is that Cardiff City's remaining two matches are also against teams in the lower bottom half (away to #18 Hull and home to #19 Reading). Fulham must take care of their matches and then see how the cards fall. Should be interesting!