JUNINHO, Fabrizio Ravanelli and Gary McAllister could be about to enrich the Football League with Middlesbrough and Coventry City the most likely to go down when the Premiership ends tomorrow afternoon.
Boro and Coventry have to win at Leeds and Tottenham while hoping that Sunderland and Southampton slip up at Wimbledon and Aston Villa. Nottingham Forest are already relegated.
Middlesbrough, docked three points by the Premier League for failing to turn up at Blackburn just before Christmas, could only manage a goalless draw when they did get to Ewood Park on Thursday night. That almost certainly doomed Teesside to the First Division after just two seasons in the Premiership.
Yet Bryan Robson, the Middlesbrough manager, remains confident his team can survive. "We're going to be under pressure, but so are the other teams involved," he said yesterday. "We've all got tough games, but my lads feel we can go to Leeds and get the result we want.
Middlesbrough are on the brink of joining Leicester City (1969) and Brighton (1983) in reaching the FA Cup final - they take on Chelsea at Wembley a week today - and going down.
Ravanelli is confident of shaking off the back injury he suffered on Monday. "In Ravanelli, Juninho and Beck we've got quality strikers who can cut people up and score goals," Rob son added. But under George Graham, the Leeds defence has become as parsimonious as was Arsenal's during the Graham era at Highbury.
Gordon Strachan still has to decide whether or not to play him self at White Hart Lane tomorrow as Coventry attempt to stay up for another season after 30 years in the top division.
"We have to win to give ourselves any hope," the Coventry manager said yesterday. "If we show the spirit and commitment we have of late and get a bit of luck, we can do our job and wait for things to happen elsewhere."
Sunderland go to Wimbledon knowing that a draw might not be enough to save them from an immediate return to the Nationwide. "We know if we win we're in this league again next season," said their manager Peter Reid. "So it's in our hands."
Southampton are the least likely to be relegated, but it is not an impossibility. And they are unlikely to find Aston Villa sympathetic to their needs. Villa are still seeking to make sure of a place in the UEFA Cup next season.
. The tension at Middlesbrough bubbled to the surface when Fabrizio Ravanelli, who has returned to Italy for treatment on his back, was criticised by one of his teammates. Right back and Irish international Curtis Fleming said: "He should be back here with us. If he has a problem, he should be having his treatment here. I hope he is not just concentrating on the last game of the season".
