WANDERERS have four games remaining to leapfrog Derby County into second spot and ensure they are playing Championship football.

They currently have 81 points – which equals the tally they claimed last season securing fifth place in the table, albeit their efforts to gain promotion ended in disappointment in the play-offs at Barnsley.

Ian Evatt is aiming to win the final four games, giving Wanderers a best-case scenario of 93 points. And that total would have been enough to see them promoted in 14 of the last 18 seasons.

Since League One was rebranded from the old Second Division, the average number of points to win the league outright in a completed season has been 94.7.

Discounting Coventry City’s title in the pandemic-affected campaign of 2019/20, the lowest number of points to win the title was 85, achieved by Southend United in 2005/6. The highest tally was 103, racked up by Wolves in 2013/14.

Second-placed teams have averaged 88.5 points over the 18 full seasons in League One. Ipswich’s haul of 98 points last season was the most a team has ever managed without being declared the champion, whilst back in 2005/6 Colchester United – managed by Phil Parkinson, no less – managed to secure an automatic promotion spot with just 79.

Third-placed teams have averaged 84.8 points during the same period. Sheffield Wednesday were the unluckiest team, missing out on promotion to Ipswich last season despite taking a massive 96 points. Putting the Owls’ misfortune into context, that number would have been enough to see them win the championship outright in 10 of the previous 18 completed seasons.

Play-off winners can, of course, come from the four places below the automatic promotion spots and so it stands to reason that their average points haul for 46 games is lower at 80.77.

The lowest number of points gained by a play-off winner is 72, an honour shared by both Sheffield Wednesday (2004/5) and Barnsley (2005/6).

Including the Covid season, in which Wycombe were promoted via the play-offs, third-placed teams have also secured promotion in eight of the 19 seasons.

Wanderers last managed to gain promotion from this level in 2016/17, racking up 86 points to finish behind Sheffield United and four clear of Scunthorpe United.