Comment by Jules Hornbrook

THERE'S a few quid riding on this weekend.

Not just the fans that are hoping for a miracle and a hefty pay day at the bookies, rather the club itself that is bracing itself for League Two football.

We haven't experienced the basement division for 15 years at Crewe and it will be a bitter pill to swallow should the now expected relegation be confirmed tomorrow Saturday.

Everything from gate receipts to transfer fees received will tumble. There will be less TV cash and the numbers visiting our town will fall. It's a gloomy outlook however you dress it.

The Alex management will be forced to juggle admission charges and Gudjon Thordarson will have to reassess his transfer targets. We'll be a small fish in a small pool.

It's depressing, and many are asking just how it came to this.

Since early March, I have remained confident we'd survive, but each game since has come and gone with insufficient points gained to secure safety.

In fact, April has been torture. Last Friday at Stockport was painful and now avoiding the drop is no longer in our hands. That's the worst bit: even an unlikely win against champions Leicester may still see us relegated on 49 points.

Worse still is news that Stockport are now in administration. With a 10-point penalty likely, they will slip back to 50 points.

If we could have grabbed a draw, they too would now be very much in the mix.

As ever, it's all ifs and buts. Instead, we should concentrate on the task in hand.

The results combination required this weekend is simple: we must win, Brighton must lose and Carlisle can do no more than draw. Oh, and then we have to hope that the four-goal difference is achieved by us and, we hope, Stockport down on the south coast. So if you see pigs flying, this weekend you'll know there's hope.

It's no wonder the bookies are offering astronomical odds on the Alex retaining League One status, and that so many fans are tempted to take a punt.

Still, we have been here before requiring three results to go in our favour – remember the Coventry game back in May 2005? Leicester City, however, are a different proposition. Already champions, their fans will want a final day party.

The Foxes will have fringe players involved, for sure, just as Alex Ferguson did in Man Utd's FA Cup semi-final the other week. But these Leicester lads will have something to prove! They will want to stake a claim, get noticed and, in some cases, secure improved contracts ahead of their Championship return.

So it's down to the men in red to raise their collective game one last time. Worry about the other results later.

, although I'm sure news of goals will filter through to the players out on the pitch.

I can see us winning the game if everything clicks, but by two or three goals? It's a big ask, just as it's a tall order for Stockport to hit a couple at Brighton. Still, miracles can and do happen.

If three results go our way, a few thousand Alex fans will leave the ground beaming like Cheshire cats. Some will also have bulging pockets! Fingers crossed...

Other Crewe Alex stories online today:

Leicester City pre-match odds