One playoff "final" down, one more to go. The game between Middlesbrough and Brighton at the weekend basically amounted to a preliminary version of the one-game promotion decider that makes grown men and women weep with tension. Middlesbrough held on for the 1-1 draw they needed amid the nerves and can kick back for a while, but Brighton have to deal with the illness-inducing terror of the playoffs.

Perhaps it was the occasion and the tension but Brighton looked tired at the weekend. During...