Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman has admitted that he doesn't believe AFC Bournemouth will secure promotion if they drop into the play-offs this month.
The Cherries are set to face Nottingham Forest this evening in what is expected to be an enthralling affair at the Vitality Stadium.
A win over the Reds will allow Bournemouth to secure a return to the Premier League as they will move six points clear of Steve Cooper's side in the Championship standings.
However, Forest will overtake the Cherries in the league table ahead of the final game of the season if they seal all three points on their travels.
Bournemouth will be relatively confident in their ability to pick up a positive result tonight following their morale-boosting 3-0 victory over Blackburn Rovers last weekend.
A brace from Philip Billing and a goal from Dominic Solanke allowed Rovers to overcome the threat posed by Tony Mowbray's side at Ewood Park.
Ahead of the club's crucial clash with Forest, Goodman has shared a frank verdict on Bournemouth's promotion hopes.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Sky Sports EFL Podcast, Goodman said: "I'll say it right here, right now, if Bournemouth end up in the play-offs, I don't think they'll get promoted.
"There you go, I said it.
"And it's the sheer magnitude of the disappointment, not because they are not good enough to win the play-offs but we saw what happened last season, they fell away and there was an expectation.
"But this season, even more, they have been in the top-two all the way through and picking yourself up, we've seen it before haven't we when teams that should have been automatically promoted have ended up in the play-offs and not managed to get over that disappointment.
"And that's what's at stake for Bournemouth."
The Verdict
Whereas the Cherries will be extremely disappointed if they fail to get over the line in terms of automatic promotion, they will still be confident in their ability to secure a place in the top-flight via the play-offs.
Although Bournemouth suffered defeat in the play-offs at the hands of Brentford last season, they have improved as a team over the course of the current campaign following their decision to hand over the reins to Scott Parker.
Parker also has experience of guiding a club through this aforementioned competition as he led Fulham to promotion to the Premier League via a trip to Wembley Stadium in 2020.
By stepping up to the mark tonight, the Cherries may be able to seal the win that they need to claim a top-two finish alongside the Cottagers who won the Championship title yesterday.