How hard can it be to reach EPL?

Happy days ... Cardiff City have plenty of reason to celebrate at the moment. Source: Nick Potts / AAP

It's just not healthy being a supporter of a team in the nPower Championship in England at the moment.

No sooner are your hopes raised on the back of a winning run - they are shot down again.

		P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Man United	30	25	2	3	39	77
2	Man City	30	18	8	4	29	62
3	Tottenham	31	17	6	8	15	57
4	Chelsea	30	16	7	7	27	55
5	Arsenal	30	15	8	7	26	53
6	Everton	30	13	12	5	12	51
7	Liverpool	31	13	9	9	19	48
8	West Brom	31	13	5	13	0	44
9	Swansea	31	10	10	11	1	40
10	Fulham	30	10	9	11	-3	39
11	West Ham	30	10	6	14	-9	36
12	Southampton	31	8	10	13	-9	34
13	Stoke	31	7	13	11	-9	34
14	Norwich	31	7	13	11	-19	34
15	Newcastle	31	9	6	16	-15	33
16	Sunderland	31	7	10	14	-10	31
17	Wigan	30	8	6	16	-20	30
18	Aston Villa	31	7	9	15	-26	30
19	QPR	31	4	11	16	-23	23
20	Reading	31	5	8	18	-25	23

Best to be indifferent to it. Expect nothing. Wake up and look at the overnight results with your fingers crossed.

It's said that it's the toughest league to get out of. Why, Nottingham Forest have been stuck in it for eight years.

Big dreams don't always come true.

While QPR and Reading are likely heading down - and will be joined by one of Aston Villa, Sunderland, Newcastle United, Wigan Athletic, Stoke City, Southampton and Norwich City - phew!, let's take a breather, - life at the top of the Championship is certainly no less interesting.

But not one team in contention for promotion to the promised land is seizing the moment.

And with seven games - or five weeks - to go, that's likely to leave many issues unresolved until well into May.

That inertia is highlighted by the plight of Leeds United. In contention for a return to the top flight a matter of weeks ago, they are now staring at a relegation battle.

The FA Cup win over Tottenham Hotspur seems an awful long time ago, doesn't it?

The teams scrapping for their very survival are all winning. Those pushing for promotion - with the odd exception - aren't.

Anyway, the favourites for the automatic spots are Cardiff City and Hull City.

Cardiff look certain to become the second Welsh club among the elite, even though their form hardly deserves it. Won't it be great to see Craig Bellamy on centre stage again?

They lead by seven points and are 11 points clear of third-placed Watford. It would be some fall from grace if they failed to go up.

Hull City, who enjoyed a two-season EPL cameo between 2008 and 2010, are perfectly placed to claim the second promotion berth.

Meanwhile, the battle for the one spot via the playoffs lies between Mile Jedinak's Palace, Gianfranco Zola's Watford, Forest, Brighton and Leicester.

Palace can't buy a win of late and have lost their last four. Leicester are even worse. They have only picked up six points out of a possible 36 yet are still in with a shout.

Forest, on the other hand, are unbeaten in their last eight games, picking up 20 points from their last 24. As a Forest supporter, no wonder my health is the best it's been all season.

But perceptions change quickly. Seven games is still too far away to count your blessings. The relegation battle could conceivably cover 15 teams. Last season the mark was set at 40 points. This season it could be as high as 55. Leeds, who sacked manager Neil Warnock on Tuesday, are not out of danger on 52 points.

For this is a tough, ruthless league that doesn't care for reputations. It's where being an early-season favourite is often the deathknell on your chances.

Put it this way.

Wolverhampton Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers, Barnsley, Sheffield Wednesday, Ipswich Town, Birmingham City and Blackpool have all been in the EPL this milenium. Now they are staring at life in League One.

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