Ipswich, Millwall and Boro face fight for promotion in crunch Championship finale

Gloves will be off on Saturday’s lunchtime kick-offs as all three clubs hope to join Coventry in the top-flight

If Ipswich do not achieve promotion this month the image may be permanently seared into Jack Clarke’s retinas. He had slalomed through Southampton’s defence in the final act of a dizzying cameo on Tuesday night and, from an angle on the left, unleashed a near-flawless drive across Daniel Peretz. Replays barely do justice to the home No 1’s left-handed save but the key detail is that he somehow got a touch on the ball and glanced it millimetres wide, with Clarke preparing to wheel off towards the visiting fans. It was 2-2 in the 94th minute and Ipswich would have been home and dry with a win but for the merest snick off the edges of Peretz’s goalkeeping apparel.

It means the gloves will be off on Saturday lunchtime at Portman Road, the New Den and far beyond. The league’s finale is poised deliciously and, even if the Championship winners, Coventry, are long gone, nobody is going quietly in the wait for second. Will Ipswich, experienced in such scenarios under Kieran McKenna, use quality and muscle memory to preserve second spot? Could Alex Neil’s relentless Millwall offer up the story of the season by returning to the big time after 36 years away? Or will Kim Hellberg and Middlesbrough, seemingly a top-flight team in waiting for much of the campaign before falling away, orchestrate one last twist?

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