"I've got to be honest" - Pundit issues worrying claim on Cardiff City and Luton Town | OneFootball

Jobi McAnuff has given his thoughts on the current Championship relegation picture

The Championship returns this week, with one of the biggest games of the weekend coming at the MKM Stadium, as Luton Town travel to Hull City in a relegation six-pointer clash.

The Hatters, despite winning just twice on the road all season, will see a matchup with the league's worst home side as a must-win, especially given the rest of their eight-game run-in yields some real tests against the likes of Leeds United, Coventry City and West Brom.

A win for Matt Bloomfield's side could put them within a point of Cardiff City, who currently sit 21st, if the Bluebirds were to taste defeat at home against one of the better away sides in the league in Sheffield Wednesday.

EFL pundit and former promotion-winning captain, Jobi McAnuff gave his opinions on both Cardiff and Luton's survival chances on the Sky Sports Essential EFL podcast and believes that both sides need to dig deep and show some fight if they were to avoid the drop come May.

Jobi McAnuff gives verdict on Luton Town and Cardiff City's survival chances

Former Reading and Leyton Orient winger, Jobi McAnuff, feels skeptical about Luton Town's drive to maintain their Championship status for next season but did admit that there has been an improvement in performances under Matt Bloomfield.

Speaking on the Essential EFL podcast, McAnuff said: "All season I've been looking [at Luton] thinking, right, at some point they're going to put a little run together, they're going to get themselves clear. Every time they win a game you think that this is the moment but then they don't back it up.

"It's taken a bit of time for Matt Bloomfield to get a grip on things and impose his way of doing things on the group. I think there have been some improvements [...], but when you're a group of players who didn't expect to be at the end of the table at this stage of the season, it can be a real mentality challenge.

"My question with them is, is there enough in there? Enough drive in the group to say 'We've got to dig in, we've got the quality' because they do have the quality compared to other teams down there.

"But have they got that will to dig in and battle and stick together? I've got to be honest, I'm still not sure."

McAnuff expressed his main concerns over Cardiff City, however, who he believes have been "sucked in" to a relegation scrap.

"I would worry about Cardiff if I'm honest. I know they got a big win last time out going into the international break, but listen, I think it's going to go down to the wire."

Fellow EFL pundit Don Goodman, who also appeared on the podcast, agreed with McAnuff's assessment of the Welsh side, adding that: "you don't know what you're going to get with them."

Tight relegation race will go down to the wire

On the podcast, Jobi McAnuff refused to give any predictions on who would place where in the Championship relegation fight - a wise choice.

Despite Plymouth and Luton arguably boasting the toughest run-in of the surrounding sides on paper, it's the old cliché that the Championship is the most unpredictable league in the world, and anything can happen.

The relegation run-in may expand further than the current bottom five sides too. If Luton can pick up a big win against Hull City, then the Tigers will yet again be looking nervously over their shoulders at the bottom three and, similarly, with Oxford United and Portsmouth, should they fall victim to a string of bad results.

It'll most definitely be a nail-biting final month and a half of the season down at the bottom of the Championship, as sides do everything they can to maintain their place in the second tier for next season.