The Sky Bet Championship is a merciless gauntlet which is difficult for some to survive. As spring descends upon the footballing calendar, the terrifying spectre of the drop looms large. Leicester City find themselves entangled in a desperate, five-way struggle to avoid claiming the two remaining tickets to League One. With every beleaguered outfit still harbouring the desperate hope of evading such a grisly fate.
Leicester City's rivals for the drop
​Presently, it is Oxford United and the Foxes who find themselves most imperilled, gasping for air in the depths of the bottom three. Sheffield Wednesday are gone.
Just above this trapdoor, Blackburn Rovers and Portsmouth find themselves perilously hovering, peering nervously over their shoulders at the abyss below. It is a nerve-shredding narrative of sporting survival.
Yet Sky Sports pundit Jobi McAnuff has offered a ray of unbridled optimism for the Fratton Park faithful. The former Jamaica international believes that, come May, those of a Pompey persuasion will have ample reason to celebrate.
McAnuff points to a resilience within John Mousinho's ranks. An intangible, steel-laden quality capable of steering the South Coast vessel into the safe, tranquil waters of mid-table survival.
Foxes forecast
​Alas, no such warmth was extended to King Power Stadium. Pivoting his gaze toward the East Midlands, McAnuff delivered a verdict of a distinctly more ominous and worrying landscape.
"If they pull themselves together they have got the quality, but have they got the togetherness and spirit? That’s the big question for me."The Portsmouth News
The 44-year-old cast a critical eye over an LE2 side seemingly bereft of consistent defensive cohesion and psychological fortitude. He questioned whether a squad (supposedly) constructed for grander stages possess the sheer, unglamorous stomach required for a scrap in the Championship mud.
If McAnuff's dark prophecies are to be believed, the blue half of Hampshire may soon rejoice, whilst Leicestershire must brace for a catastrophic collapse. Indeed, the so-called expert also gives West Bromwich Albion a "fighting chance". He seems to trust City's rivals.