Leeds United play-off rivals facing nervous wait amid experienced striker injury

Norwich City could be about to enter a play-off campaign without the experienced head of forward Ashley Barnes. David Wagner's side currently occupy fifth spot in the Championship table and should they claim the point they need to secure their play-off berth on Saturday, they could be pitched against Leeds United in the semi-finals.

Of course, collecting that point at Birmingham City, who are fighting for their Championship lives at the foot of the table, is far from being a given. And, their task could be made even harder should Barnes, who has scored six goals in 35 league appearances this season, be ruled out.

The 34-year-old stepped off the bench in the second half of the Canaries' 2-2 draw with Swansea City last time out, but he lasted just 15 minutes before being forced off the field with a troublesome Achilles issue. As such, the club are due to assess the injury this week leading into their trip to St Andrew's.

Given what's on the line in the second city, Wagner will hope to have Barnes available to him, but if he's ruled out, there's a chance he could be forced to sit out of the play-offs, too, should the East Anglian side finish inside the top six.

"In the last couple of weeks, he has had some Achilles problems. He didn't train consistently," Wagner said on Barnes' injury.

"Last week he started, this week we decided that he should not start but he would have been ready for half an hour, this is what we said.

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"Obviously then we brought him in because we wanted to kill the game, then he got a muscle injury in his calf. We have to assess it and how serious it is. We will know much more next week.

"He is a competitor, he really is. Now we have to assess it and see how long he will be out."

Leeds will be hoping to avoid the lottery of the play-offs by securing automatic promotion on Saturday. To do that, they need to beat Southampton, who have already secured their play-off spot, and hope that Ipswich Town falter against the all but relegated Huddersfield Town.

Should Ipswich pick up just one point against the Terriers that will resign United to third spot, meaning they'll meet the side who finishes sixth in the semi-finals for a chance to go to Wembley. Norwich could yet finish in sixth, but so could West Bromwich Albion and Hull City, with the three clubs gunning for two post-season spots. Having picked up maximum points against the Canaries over the regular season, though, Leeds might well fancy their chances should they meet in the two-legged semi-finals.