MIND GAMES are not confined to the title race. At the other end of the table two from three will be relegated, the pressure of that situation prompting managers, players and chairmen to turn tomorrow's fixtures into a psychological minefield.

Through home advantage, weak opponents or survival being in their own hands, Birmingham City, Reading and Fulham all claim to have the best chance to escape. But who really does hold the upper hand with 90 minutes remaining?

Fulham, above the relegation cut-off on goal difference and safe in the knowledge that victory at Portsmouth will secure survival, would appear to be the obvious answer, although Reading's trip to Derby County, who will finish with the lowest points total in Premier League history, could hardly have been timed better. Birmingham, meanwhile, take solace from the fact that they are the only one of the three imperilled clubs to finish the season with a home match, against Blackburn Rovers.

"You would think we have the advantage, being at St Andrew's," said the Birmingham full-back Stephen Kelly. "All we can do is go out and win the game. It can look kind of bleak but you've just got to be positive. Reading may be playing Derby, who have not been in the best form all season, but strange things happen. People are saying Portsmouth are playing in an FA Cup final next week and they'll take it easy but those players are playing for places."

Birmingham and Reading desperately hope that is the case. Normally a trip to Fratton Park would send a frisson of fear down the spines of Fulham supporters - the west London club have never won at Portsmouth in the top flight - but with Harry Redknapp's side having suffered three successive league defeats, as minds turn to their showpiece game against Cardiff City at Wembley next Saturday, Roy Hodgson's players could be forgiven for arriving with a spring in their step.

"We were in a dire situation at one point - we looked dead and buried. But it's nice to have a chance to still be fighting in the final game," said Hodgson, the Fulham manager. "It would be heartbreaking to be relegated either way but maybe it will be more dramatic heartbreak as we have now come so close.

"All of us here have wanted to keep Fulham in the Premier League. It's been our dream. It looked for quite a long time that it would be something we'd have to forgo, instead coming to terms with the reality of the Championship. All of a sudden we've had a reprieve and, if we win our last game, we won't go down. We'll be devastated if we lose it from here."

Indeed Fulham's position is the one to cherish, according to Paul Jewell. Having twice experienced survival on the last day of the season - at Bradford in 2000 and Wigan Athletic last year - the Derby manager is in the perfect position to empathise with Steve Coppell, Alex McLeish and Hodgson. "I think preparation is the key and that you have got to get your players focused," he said. "But I would rather be in Roy Hodgson's shoes than Steve Coppell's because they know that, if they win, nothing else matters."

Birmingham have no such luxury and Blackburn, with the chance still to claim an Intertoto Cup place, are expected to be demanding opponents at St Andrew's. Unbeaten in seven matches at home, Birmingham are clinging to that for optimism.

Reading, without a goal in 551 minutes and arriving at Pride Park on the back of a run that has yielded two points from a possible 18, must look in Derby's direction for their encouragement.

Recent history might also give Birmingham and Reading a fillip. Twice in the past three seasons teams in a relegation spot on the final day - West Bromwich Albion in 2005 and Wigan last year - have hauled themselves to safety come the final whistle of the 38th game. Perhaps that was what John Madejski, the Reading chairman, had in mind when he reflected that Fulham are carrying a greater burden than Birmingham or his own club as the finale approaches.

"John Madejski may have said we have to beat Portsmouth but like Reading we can only do our best," said Hodgson. "His words are twisting and turning the situation and I can understand how every club is anxious to do that.

"There will be some interesting situations during the game - controversial refereeing decisions, missed chances, mistakes, balls hitting crossbars. But the only thing any of the teams involved can do is do their best and hope the football gods smile upon them." Guardian Service