The managers insist promotion is all that matters and the destiny of the Championship title is irrelevant, the players disagree. Either way, Tuesday’s showdown between Brighton and Newcastle will go a long way to determining both.
One point separates Chris Hughton’s table-topping Seagulls and Rafa Benitez’s Magpies, who remain favourites to go up as champions.
But at the Amex Stadium there will be nerves, for the presence of in-form Huddersfield in third has unsettled a pair of frontrunners for whom promotion had seemed as good as guaranteed at Christmas. Not any more.
David Wagner’s side have taken 19 points from 21 to move within five of Newcastle, who they face on home soil this weekend.