Championship play-off permutations and fixture dates…

Championship play-off permutations and fixture dates as Swansea City, Brentford, Bournemouth and Barnsley await fate

The 2020/21 Championship regular season finally comes to an end this weekend.

Swansea City, Brentford, Bournemouth and Barnsley are all bidding to join Norwich City and Watford in gaining promotion to the Premier League.

It remains to be seen who the Swans will face in the play-off semi-final, although by 2:30pm on Saturday, the fixtures will be confirmed.

Here's the current state of play as far as the top six is concerned along with the full permutations regarding the semi-final fixtures.

How does the table currently look?

3 Brentford - P: 45; GD: +35; Pts: 84

4 Swansea City - P: 45; GD: +19; Pts: 80

5 Bournemouth - P: 45; GD: +29; Pts: 77

6 Barnsley - P: 45; GD: +8; Pts: 77

What are the remaining fixtures?

Bristol City v Brentford

Watford v Swansea City

Bournemouth v Stoke City

Barnsley v Norwich City

(All games kick-off at 12:30pm on Saturday, May 8)

What are the permutations?

Brentford are guaranteed to finish third and will play the side who finish sixth when it comes to the semi-finals. The other tie sees fourth play fifth.

The other three league positions are yet to be decided, although Swansea will clinch fourth spot - and a home second leg in the process - if they win or draw at Watford.

They could also finish fourth if they lose against the Hornets, as long as Bournemouth don't beat Stoke City and Barnsley don't win against Norwich City with an 11-goal swing in the process.

If Swansea finish fourth, they will play Bournemouth in the semi-finals as long as Barnsley do not better the Cherries' result on the final day.

Should Barnsley better Bournemouth's result, they would finish above Jonathan Woodgate's men - which means they would face Swansea in the semi-finals as long as Steve Cooper's men finished fourth.

Swansea would have to lose while Bournemouth and Barnsley would both need to win (the Reds with an 11-goal swing) for Cooper's men to drop to sixth which would mean they would play Brentford in the semi-finals for a second year running - although that appears highly unlikely to say the least.