There's one more to go this season on home turf for Bristol Rovers as they welcome Peterborough United to the Mem on Saturday, a side who still have promotion in sight, be that via the slim remaining chance of the automatic places or the already-sealed play-offs.
Posh aren't out of the race for second place just yet after Portsmouth were confirmed as League One winners in midweek but Derby County are firmly in the driving seat with a three-point advantage over third place Bolton Wanderers and are six points ahead of Peterborough, although Darren Ferguson's side boast a game in hand.
Alas, victory for the Rams at Cambridge United on Saturday will all-but seal their return to the Championship even if Bolton and Posh win meaning that it's very much out of Rovers' visitors' hands ahead of their trip to BS7. They also host already-relegated Carlisle United on the final day which suggests the deed is done.
However, barring a total collapse, Ferguson's men appear to have sealed a top four finish meaning that they'll have the luxury of having their home leg second, something that certainly made a difference last year when they miraculously threw away a 4-0 lead on aggregate at Sheffield Wednesday.
This season though, a young side have seriously impressed with Peterborough League One's top scorers with 84 goals as well as seeing players win both the division's Player of the Season and Young Player of the Season awards in Harrison Burrows and Ronnie Edwards. Additionally, the Cambridgeshire outfit were crowned EFL Trophy winners just under a fortnight ago.
It seems impossible to discuss a Rovers versus Peterborough fixture without mentioning former Gas striker Jonson Clarke-Harris who was seconds away from a club-record return to the club on deadline day in summer but it fell through. The 29-year-old is set to become a free agent this summer after just 14 league starts this term, although he has netted a decent return of 13 goals across all competitions. However, another swoop from Rovers this summer seems extremely unlikely with the Gas turning down the opportunity to sign him in January.
Returning focus to Peterborough as a team though, what can the Gas expect this weekend as they look to sign off at the Mem on a high? Bristol Live spoke to the Peterborough Telegraph's sports editor Alan Swann to get the lowdown ahead of Saturday's match.
Where is the mind of Peterborough currently at in regards to the promotion race? Is there still confidence that they can sneak into 2nd or is it all about the play-offs now?
Publicly they are saying a top two finish can still be achieved, but privately I suspect they are preparing for the play-offs. It's tough to see Derby not getting the three points they probably need to finish second from fixtures against Cambridge and Carlisle, and even if they didn't Posh would need to win their final three matches.
Assuming they do have to do it through the play-offs, how much confidence is there now that Peterborough can have a better crack at it than last year and actually get themselves promoted?
I suspect last year's traumatic experience won't be a factor. Seven of the regular first-team from this season were at Hillsborough, but knowing this group there will be a determination to make amends rather than to be scared of a repeat experience. There was little expectation such a young group would go this well this season so they could see the play-offs as a free hit. Certainly they've played well against all of their likely opponents in at least one game this season.
How much of a boost has the EFL Trophy run been and of course winning it?
Winning the Trophy at Wembley can't be a bad thing should they return there for a play-off final. The downside is the extra games the team have played and the team looked like they were running on empty at Oxford last weekend, and to some extent against Fleetwood at home on Tuesday, a game they could easily have lost.
How do you think Peterborough will approach this game with Rovers seemingly having little to play for?
I would expect there to be a few changes and a couple of injuries (Ricky-Jade Jones and Kwame Poku) might force the manager's hand anyway. It's not a squad deep in talent so ensuring the better players are fit for the play-offs could well be a priority for the next couple of games. It's unlikely Posh will lose fourth spot (only out-of-form Barnsley can overtake them) so they will have the advantage of avoiding Bolton/Derby and playing a second leg at home regardless of the outcome on Saturday.
Besides POTS Harrison Burrows and Young POTS Ronnie Edwards, who are some of the other players the Gas will need to be wary of on Saturday?
If he plays winger Ephron Mason-Clark has been good enough to win a £4.25 million move to Coventry City. He's strong, quick and tricky. Hector Kypriano, who made his senior international debut for Cyprus this season, and Archie Collins have been described as the best midfield pairing in the league by their manager. And of course your old player Jonson Clarke-Harris could feature after his two-goal burst from the bench on Tuesday.
