Pundit Dennis Wise has delivered his verdict on who will win the tussle for automatic promotion between Aston Villa, Derby County and Cardiff City.
The race for promotion to the Premier League from the Championship is hotting up with Cardiff City, Aston Villa and Derby County all vying for the second automatic spot behind champions-elect Wolves.
More sides could yet enter the race for that coveted runner-up spot of course but Neil Warnock, Steve Bruce and Gary Rowett are the front-runners to lead their sides back to the big time.
Cardiff’s crucial win at Ipswich Town in midweek gave them a four point gap over Villa who could only draw 1-1 with playoff hopefuls Preston.
That meant they went five points ahead of Derby in fourth after Rowett’s side could only draw 2-2 with Leeds.
With 13 games to go it is all to play for and the stakes could not be higher.
And now Sky Sports pundit Dennis Wise has delivered his verdict on who he thinks will secure the automatic promotion spot.
“I do (see Villa finishing second), I think they’ll be up there if I’m being honest,” Wise told Sky Sports Daily.
“The reason being they’ve got so much experience in there you know, they’ve got the likes of John Terry sitting at the back, he knows how to motivate and he knows how to help individuals and they’ve got some good players, (Robert) Snodgrass is fantastic, the young boy (Jack) Grealish.
“I look at their team and I think ‘Yes you have got a team that’s capable of going on a really good run’ – they’ve had a bit of a hiccup but they wasn’t in a fantastic position 10, 11 games ago all of a sudden they’ve got themselves in a really decent position.
“I can see them carrying on and I can see them just pipping Cardiff. It’s going to be tight, but if I have to choose one out of Villa, Derby, Fulham and the other personnel up there Cardiff I think, just, Villa will just tip everyone.”
Wise added that he would like to see Derby promoted but doubts whether they have enough to get over the line.
The former Leeds United boss also backed Middlesbrough to make the playoffs from the chasing pack.
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