AT THIS late stage of the season, a wave of ifs, buts and maybes allow fans and players alike to predict who will go down.

It is an ongoing debate which few agree on.

Easter weekend will do much to clarify the matter, with third from bottom Scunthorpe United at Coventry City today, while 20th in the table Doncaster Rovers host the side immediately below them, Crystal Palace.

It is safe to assume many of the near 1,000 Iron fans at the Ricoh Arena will be keeping one eye on proceedings at the Keepmoat Stadium.

The Eagles are the side United, Preston and Sheffield United are all aiming at heading into the final four games.

But for Scunthorpe keeper Joe Murphy, sending Palace down a division is not a foreign scenario.

The Republic of Ireland international was part of West Brom's famous 'great escape', when they overhauled the South London side on the final day of the 2004-05 Premier League season to relegate their rivals.

It is a series of events Murphy believes can happen again in the second tier, but only if United keep focused on winning the majority of their remaining fixtures.

"We had a great escape at West Brom on the last day – I think everyone was down at one point," Murphy told the Telegraph.

"At one point Palace were going down, Charlton Athletic were and so were ourselves – but we did it.

"It will be unreal if we could do that.

"It could happen, it could come down to the last game of the season. If we could do it, we would take that.

"But we just need to concentrate on winning games.

"I don't think there is a margin for error anymore.

"We are three points behind Palace and with our goal difference, even if they lose and we win we are still behind.

"We need to concentrate on ourselves first and foremost.

"Three games ago we had the toughest run-in because we had Norwich, QPR and Reading to play.

"Looking at the games we have got, people are saying we have got the better run-in but it is tough, they are all tough games.

"We are third bottom in the league so what is easy?

"How can you say some are easier than the others when you are at the bottom?

"I don't believe in that.

"There is no easy run-in for people at the bottom of the league.

"We know Coventry is a tough place to go to.

"So we will let the fans think about who we are playing and who has got the easiest run-in."

A trip to the Midlands is by no means the toughest fixture in the Championship today, but neither is it classed as easy by the 29-year-old.

Regardless of its billing, the first goal looks set to be crucial for Alan Knill's side.

When conceding the opener in matches, Scunthorpe have gone on to lose on 24 of the 26 occasions it has happened.

When they have broken the deadlock, defeat has followed only twice from 13 matches.

That may well be one of the reasons why United have injected an attacking philosophy into their last few games.

"We are chasing and we know we need to win games," added the Iron keeper.

"You are let loose a little bit. You try to go out to score goals and attack as much as you can.

"That is the new gaffer's philosophy, no matter who we are playing he wants us to go and win, which can only be good for the run-in.

"Since the gaffer has come in we have looked threatening from minute one.

"It is our philosophy just to go straight at them.

"You are not going to win games by just sitting back and scoring from a set-play or scoring on the break.

"We won't do that. We have got the players and the ability to go at teams and beat them."

Pressure is a word often used in a relegation dogfight, relating to anyone and everyone involved.

But for Murphy, personally, it is not a facet of the game that particularly bothers him, as his desire to string a run of games together – following an ankle injury – supersedes any tension surrounding the drop.

"For me, I thought the season was over," he added.

"I am just happy to get back in there and play football.

"I think there is more pressure on the sides above the bottom three than those in there.

"They will say, 'we only need to win one or get four points'.

"But we need to win three from four and even that might not be enough.

"It is backs against the wall, but we have got another crack at it (as a result of the 2-1 win at Palace).

"It is almost exactly the same scenario today as last weekend.

"I think the Easter weekend (in which United face Millwall on Monday) will make or break the season."