t the force he once was they still have an impressive array of spinners to

Should Brighton, Walsall and Accrington Stanley be wary of the play-offs after missing out on automatic promotion on the final day of the season?Brighton and Walsall finished third in the Championship and League One respectively while Accrington ended up fourth in League Two - where there are three automatic promotion places.The trio will now enter the play-offs as the highest-ranked teams in their respective divisions, but is that a positive? Since the introduction of the play-offs in 1987 there have been several examples of teams missing out on promotion after finishing well ahead of their rivals in the regular season.In recent years, Watford, Nottingham Forest and Ipswich have failed to win promotion after finishing third in the Championship. Highlights of the clash for promotion between Middlesbrough and Brighton Sheffield United failed to make it up from League One in 2011/12 after finishing on 90 points, nine clear of Huddersfield in fourth and 17 clear of sixth-placed Stevenage.But is it really a curse to finish in third? The stats suggest otherwise.In fact, 39.50% of the teams that have finished in the top play-off place across the three divisions have been promoted.Only 21% of teams in the second play-off spot have been successful while those in the bottom two places go up 19.80% of the time. Positions of teams promoted in play-offs Position Championship League One League Two Total Percentage 3rd (4th in L2) 10 9 13 32 39.50% 4th (5th in L2) 5 7 5 17 21% 5th (6th in L2) 7 5 4 16 19.80% 6th (7th in L2) 5 6 5 16 19.80% Brighton, who finished 15 points ahead of sixth-placed Sheffield Wednesday, should be buoyed by the fact that 37% of the sides who have finished third in the Championship have gone up.In comparison, those finishing fourth (18.50%), fifth (25.90%) and sixth (18.50%) have not fared as well.Norwich, West Ham and Swansea have won promotion to the Premier League in recent seasons after ending up third in the second tier. Where have Championship play-off winners finished in table? Position Total Percentage 3rd (Brighton this season) 10 37% 4th (Hull this season) 5 18.50% 5th (Derby this season) 7 25.90% 6th (Sheff Wed this season) 5 18.50% In League One, where Walsall finished third this season, the play-offs have proved more unpredictable.Teams in third have gone up 33.30% of the time, a slightly better success rate than those in fourth (25.90%), fifth (18.50%) and sixth (22.20%).But Accrington have more reason to be cheerful. Almost half (48.10%) of the teams that have finished fourth in League Two have gone up through the play-offs. Walsall thumped Port Vale on the final day but still missed out on second place Those in fifth (18.50%), sixth (14.80%) and seventh (18.50%) have not enjoyed anywhere near as much success.However, while the stats do dispel the curse of third, only once, in 2007/08, have all three of the highest-finishing teams enjoyed success in the play-offs, with Hull, Doncaster and Stockport going up.Who will win promotion this year from the play-offs? Watch all the games live on Sky Sports.Also See:FL play-offs: Who, when, where?Weekend ups and downsMiddlesbrough win promotionLive on SkyWholesale NFL Shop . The visitors took a deserved lead in the 16th minute with midfielder Yohan Cabaye curling the ball beyond Adrian from inside the penalty area. Cheap NFL Store . Ferrer, trying to win his fourth title on Mexican soil, will next play South Africas Kevin Anderson, who eliminated American Sam Querrey,7-6 (2), 6-4. Also Wednesday, Gilles Simon (6) of France beat Donald Young of the United States 6-4, 6-3, Ukraines Alexandr Dolgopolov downed Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4 and Croatias Ivo Karlovic defeated Dudi Sela of Israel 7-6 (4), 6-2. http://www.jerseyscheapnfl.net/ .Y. - General manager Billy King says the Brooklyn Nets are looking to add a big man and confirmed the team worked out centre Jason Collins, who would become the first openly gay active NBA player if signed. China NFL Jerseys . After a lengthy wait, persistent rain finally forced the postponement of the Nationals game against the Miami Marlins on Saturday night. The teams, and a few thousand fans, waited nearly four hours from the 7:05 scheduled start time before an announcement was made shortly before 11 p. Nike NFL Jerseys China . Wall made the comment in a speech to a Regina business crowd that included Lesnar. The U.S. wrestler and retired mixed martial artist says he was visiting his brothers farm in Saskatchewan and decided he wanted to hear what the premier had to say.Royal Challengers Bangalores batting line-up contains Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and Shane Watson – but Sky Sports IPL presenter, Matt Floyd, reckons they WON’T make the play-offs… Caught your breath back after that stunning finish to the World T20?Its going to be hard to top that but the IPL is probably the only tournament that might be able to - it was, after all, this giant of T20 entertainment that helped mould some of the stars who shone for their national sides in India. A large number of them have stayed on for IPL 9, an edition that will have a slightly different feel to it.Firstly, IPL wouldnt be IPL without some sort of front-page controversy in the off-season. To cut a long story short, Gurunath Meiyappan (ex-team principal of Chennai Super Kings) and Raj Kundra (former co-owner of Rajasthan Royals) were found to have been involved in betting activity and their teams have been suspended for two years.Obviously this came as a huge shock to many and it will seem a little odd not to see MS Dhoni masterminding another tight win in yellow or the Royals unearthing another local star from nowhere, but the show must go on and we have two new franchises.Dhoni will captain in a mixture of pink, purple and blue this time (think Harlequins rugby) as he was snapped up by the Rising Pune Supergiants. I know what you are thinking: What on earth is a Supergiant? No idea, but it sounds big.Anyway, Dhoni took CSK stalwarts Ravi Ashwin and Faf Du Plessis with him, and many are intrigued to see how he will handle Kevin Pietersen. Kevin Pietersen will play for Rising Pune Supergiants in 2016 Gujarat Lions are the other new team and arguably theyve done even better in the draft - captain Suresh Raina could have some hard decisions to make with a squad containing the likes of Brendon McCullum, Aaron Finch, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, James Faulkner, Dwayne Smith and Dale Steyn.Looking a little deeper at the two new squads, though, it suggests they may have been hampered by a lack of options overall, with the six other teams having already retained the players they wanted. How Pune and Gujarats unproven local players perform could be vital to their success. The IPL returns on Saturday with Mumbai Indians versus Rising Pune Supergiants. KP and Eoin Morgan are back but the ex-England international might get more game time than the current limited-overs skipper. The Supergiants look a little short on batting fiirepower so I expect KP to play an important role.dddddddddddd Morgans Sunrisers, though, dont have the same issues.Only four overseas can play from Kane Williamson, Morgan, David Warner, Moises Henriques, Ben Cutting, Trent Boult and Mustafizur Rahman, and it may be that the Hyderabad franchise feel they need to go for a bowler or all-rounder ahead of the England captain. Hopefully not! Will Eoin Morgan get regular game time at Sunrisers? The other two Englishmen in the competition will have plenty of intrigued fans keeping an eye on their scores. but will Jos Buttler and Sam Billings see much game time? I reckon they will, especially Buttler.Reigning champions Mumbai are a very strong outfit but a) hes got an X factor rarely seen around the world and b) there is an injury cloud over Lasith Malinga. He couldnt have picked a tougher side to break into for a foreigner (barring RCB perhaps) but his stock is high after the World T20 and IPL 9 could be the time when he fully announces himself on the big stage.Billings will find it harder, especially as Delhi have two excellent keeper/batsmen in their squad in Quinton De Kock and Sanju Samson, but he could play as a specialist batsman as that is an area where the Daredevils look a little thin.So, whos going to take home the trophy? Looking at the squads it seems a bit of a lottery (every side has a few match-winners!), so Ill go with the usual tactic of favouring the best bowling attacks as stats will tell you they generally win tournaments. AB de Villiers adds to a powerful Bangalore batting line-up Royal Challengers undoubtedly have the best top three with Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers and theyve signed Shane Watson, but with no Mitchell Starc their bowling could potentially be toothless, so, at the risk of looking extremely stupid, I dont think theyll win it and may not even make the play-offs.Kolkata finished fifth last year and theyve hardly changed their squad but I fancy them to improve on that. Even if Sunil Narine isnt the force he once was they still have an impressive array of spinners to prosper on a pitch that usually takes turn - step forward Brad Hogg, Shakib Al Hasan, Piyush Chawla and Yusuf Pathan.Its hard to look past Mumbai as well and I reckon Sunrisers could spring a surprise - new signings Yuvraj Singh, Deepak Hooda, Ashish Nehra and Mustafizur could well drive them into the knock-out stage for the first time since 2013. Ill go for the Gujarat Lions as the final team to go through as theyve got some great all-round options.It all kicks off with a bang on Saturday as Mumbai Indians take on Rising Pune Supergiants at the Wankhede Stadium. Champs v Newbies, Buttler v KP, Rohit v Dhoni. Well see you then!Sky Sports is the only place you can watch all the action from the 2016 IPL, starting on Saturday as Kevin Pietersen and the Rising Pune Supergiants face defending chapions Mumbai Indians, including Englands Jos Buttler, live on Sky Sports 3 from 3pm. Or watch live without a contract, on NOW TV.Also See:Best of ButtlerKevin Pietersens yearIPL: How to watchJohnson pumped for IPL ' ' '