Three automatic promotion spots in League Two rarely fails to make the race for League One football exciting come the latter end of the season. As it stands, Leyton Orient top the table with 70 points and boast not only a 13-point gap from second-placed Stevenage at the time of writing, but a huge 16-point cushion between them and third-placed Stockport County.
But what is the barometer when it comes to promotion in League Two? We've crunched the numbers, analysed the history of League Two since 1995-96 and worked out the average number of points required to win automatic promotion and what is needed to win the division.
With the average points required to win the League Two title being 89.2, Leyton Orient as it stands, need another 19 points. To secure automatic promotion though, Orient need to aim for around 81/82 points, with 81.5 the average points total which has secured a top-three finish in the fourth tier of English football since 1996. Although the London-based club are in prime position to lift the title, it will be a fight to the bitter end for those remaining automatic promotion places, particularly between Northampton, Carlisle and clubs like Mansfield Town, Salford City and Stockport County, all of whom know that a winning run at this stage of the season could see them gatecrash the top three.
