Swansea City face unique dilemma amid Cardiff City situation | OneFootball

Swansea City could do their biggest rivals a favour in the coming weeks

Swansea City continued their impressive revival with a 1-0 win away at high-flying Sunderland, taking them 12 points clear of the relegation zone with just four Championship fixtures remaining.

The Swans have picked up ten points from a possible 12 in their last four games, and it means that the Jack Army can relax in the final weeks of the season with their Championship status confirmed for another campaign.

However, while Alan Sheehan's side have nothing to play for during the final weeks of the season, they could have a major influence on who gets relegated from the division with home games against Hull City and Oxford United to come.

While Swansea will want to finish on a high, dropping points against the Tigers or the U's could leave bitter rivals Cardiff City in grave danger of relegation, a factor which may leave some supporters with a dilemma in the coming weeks.

Swansea City face Cardiff City relegation dilemma in the coming weeks

The South Wales Derby is one of the fiercest in the EFL and plenty of Swansea supporters are rubbing their hands at the prospect of the Bluebirds being relegated to the third tier of English football for the first time since 2003.

With a tough run in compared to some of their relegation rivals, Cardiff are already up against it when it comes to remaining in the division, and they'll need Swansea to do them a massive favour when they welcome Hull to the Swansea.com Stadium on Good Friday.

A Tigers win in South Wales on Friday, coupled with a Cardiff defeat at Sheffield United could see the Bluebirds fall six points behind Hull, with a weaker goal difference and with just three games left, leaving them staring down the barrel of relegation.

With this in mind, there will undoubtedly be a section of Swansea's support who wouldn't be too disappointed should they fall to defeat on Friday, as the chance to help relegate your biggest rivals doesn't come along too often.

We've seen previous examples of supporters hoping their side lose to spite their rivals recently, with plenty of Spurs fans hoping they lost to Manchester City in the final week of the Premier League campaign last season to stop Arsenal from winning the league, a feat they managed to achieve as the Gunners missed out on the title by two points.

However, Spurs still had Champions League football to play for at that stage, while Swansea have nothing to play for with the play-offs out of reach and relegation all but mathematically impossible.

It's a unique situation, and there may not be too many disappointed faces leaving the Swansea.com Stadium on Friday if the Swans fall to defeat...

Swansea City will have regrets over South Wales Derby displays this season

Swansea have had the upper hand on Cardiff in the South Wales Derby for the last decade or so, but they failed to beat the Bluebirds this season and that could well make the difference when it comes to Omer Riza's side avoiding relegation.

Cardiff nicked a 1-1 draw at the Swansea.com Stadium back in August before seeing Swansea off 3-0 in January, meaning they took four out of a possible six points off the Swans this season.

Without those four points, Cardiff would be rock bottom of the league, and it will certainly sting if they survive relegation because of the points they've taken off Swansea this season.

It's clear that Cardiff are a very poor side, and you have to wonder how different the result at the Cardiff City Stadium could have been if Sheehan had been in charge, not Luke Williams, who was fighting a losing battle at that point and was sacked just weeks later.

However, that 3-0 defeat will soon be forgotten about if Cardiff suffer relegation to League One this season, and Swansea could yet play a pivotal role in determining what division their bitter rivals will play in next year.