Sky Sports pundit raises Cardiff City and Stoke City concern | OneFootball

Jobi McAnuff and Don Goodman have their say on who stays up and who goes down

As the Championship season reaches its dramatic climax, the relegation battle is shaping up to be one of the tightest in recent memory.

With multiple clubs still fighting to avoid the drop, Sky Sports’ EFL experts Jobi McAnuff and Don Goodman have weighed in on who they believe will survive - and who faces the drop to League One.

Jobi McAnuff: Portsmouth will survive relegation battle, Hull City still unsafe

Portsmouth’s recent dip in form has seen their once comfortable safety cushion shrink to just four points. However, McAnuff believes John Mousinho’s side will still have enough to secure their place in the Championship next season.

Speaking on Sky Sports' Essential EFL podcast, McAnuff said: “Portsmouth, after the Leeds game, I was saying they are safe. That was because they beat Leeds and they’ve been so good at Fratton Park, but then they go and lose to Plymouth - a result you don’t see coming.”

“I just think they’ll have enough there to get what they need between now and the end of the season.”

McAnuff also suggested that Hull City, currently just three points clear of the bottom three, should still be considered part of the battle, but he backed them to grind out the results needed to stay up.

Trouble ahead for safety battle for Stoke City and Cardiff

While McAnuff believes Portsmouth and Hull will avoid the drop, he expressed concern for Cardiff City. The unpredictable nature of their performances has left them hovering precariously above the relegation zone.

“They’d be the ones I’d be worrying about, and Derby look the ones who could escape it. But I do think it’ll go down to the last day with probably four or five teams involved and maybe sneaking out of the bottom three.”

Meanwhile, Don Goodman highlighted Stoke City’s struggles, suggesting that misfortune has played a major role in their slide towards danger.

“Stoke are the ones where fate seems to be conspiring against them. When they went back to Coventry, they conceded in the 97th minute, and it transpires Haji Wright was in an offside position. That’s really bad luck.”

Stoke’s rollercoaster form, including a last-minute penalty concession against Millwall, has left them desperate for points in the final stretch.

Hope for Derby County amidst John Eustace revival

Derby County’s recent resurgence has turned the relegation picture on its head. Goodman admitted he had initially written them off but acknowledged that their recent run under John Eustace has given them a real chance of survival.

“I thought they [Derby] were doomed, I have to be honest. John went in and they lost their first three without scoring a goal. I think he’d resigned himself to being a League One manager at a club which was stable and ambitious rather than trying to stay in with Blackburn.”

“But what a chance they’ve given themselves, they’re the ones who’ve really thrown the cat among the pigeons.”

Sitting just one point behind Cardiff, Derby’s fightback has put pressure on their relegation rivals and could make them the team to watch in the final weeks.

With clubs such as Portsmouth, Cardiff, Stoke, Derby, and even Hull all nervously looking over their shoulders, McAnuff and Goodman both expect the battle to go down to the wire.

Goodman even suggested that the relegation scrap could be the most exciting race in the Championship this season, out of that of automatic promotion, play-offs, and relegation.

“This battle down at the bottom could be the pick of the three battles”