With Bristol City now looking uncatchable at the top of League One, the chasing pack of Preston North End, Swindon Town and the MK Dons will be chasing the prized final automatic promotion spot.

The race for second place in League One is hotting up
The race for second place in League One is hotting up

With only 11 games left for Swindon and the MK Dons, and 12 for Preston, I give my thoughts on how the three teams will shape up in the run in.

Preston North End: Unbeaten since the end of January Simon Grayson's men are undoubtedly the in-form team in the division, with six wins and one draw since their last defeat against Crawley. Furthermore with the return of top scorer Joe Garner from a long term injury in the last month, The Lilywhites are certainly looking good for a strong assault at that final automatic promotion spot, and a 2-0 away win against the MK Dons on Saturday was a certain body blow to their  rivals in the race for 2nd.

Swindon Town: For club with such limited resources, Swindon have been fantastic this season, but these last couple of months have been tough for the Wiltshire side with only three wins in seven which has seen them fade from a challenge with Bristol City for the league title, too now hanging on to Preston's coattails for second place.

Looking at Swindon throughout the season I've been thinking how they would cope when key players are missing or are not performing well, because looking through their squad you can see much players that could make a difference off the bench, maybe with the exception of Jon Obika but apart from that i'd think they would seriously struggle compared to teams like Preston and the MK Dons.

Saying that The Robins will hope that the 3-0 home win against Notts County will prove a turning point, and hopefully for their sake they can rediscover some of their form which got them up at the top of the league in Mid-January.

MK Dons: For the top scorers in the division, the Dons would probably be expecting to be challenging at the very top this season but five defeats in their last seven games have really put the breaks on their charge and a bit like Swindon they are now instead embroiled in a fight for second with Preston.

Karl Robinson's side are now on the catch up, sitting four points behind second place Preston having played a game extra, and the men from Milton Keynes are now in desperate need for an upturn in form, if they are to have any chance of catching back up to the automatic promotion places.