As the Serie B season nears the end, Spezia and Cremonese are running out of steam.

Two teams who have sat inside the top four for the majority of the campaign are struggling to find the consistency they displayed at the beginning.

Spezia’s form, especially, has dropped off significantly in the run-in. Only two wins in the last seven for Luca D’Angelo’s men ruled them out of automatic promotion and, in the end, made Pisa’s 34-year wait to play top flight football tension-free.

Cremonese are also going through something of a sticky patch.

A sequence of four wins from the last eight has been punctuated with surprise draws against Cittadella and Sampdoria, while a 2-1 defeat by Reggiana was also unexpected.

Giovanni Stroppa, back in the dugout after being sacked earlier in the season, will guide the Grigiorossi into the promotion play-offs for a second consecutive year.

Last season they fell at the final hurdle against Venezia, losing 1-0 over two legs, and Stroppa will hope to go one better 12 months on.

Spezia are five points clear of their opponents in fourth and need a point at the Stadio Alberto Picco to secure third place and a more favourable draw in the play-offs.

For Cremonese, a win would take them within two points of Spezia going into the final round of fixtures on May 13.

Stroppa’s side are four points ahead of Juve Stabia, therefore a point would cement their own position in the table. Yet both sides could do with a morale-boosting victory.

Stroppa, however, is not overly concerned about the play-offs just yet, preferring instead to focus on the present.

“We will think about the play-offs starting from May 14. Right now our thoughts are only on the match against Spezia, the rest does not concern us,” he said.

Last Sunday’s 1-1 draw with champions Sassuolo will have boosted confidence going into the game in Liguria. Tommaso Barbieri’s piece of individual brilliance brought Cremonese into it following Armand Lauriente’s 18th goal of the season.

As for Stroppa’s opposite number, Spezia boss D’Angelo needs to rally the troops after the defeat by Reggiana.

The goals have dried up for Francesco Pio Esposito, with the Italian scoring just twice in his last 10 games.

Gianluca Lapadula has rolled back the years somewhat, scoring a brace against Sampdoria and in the defeat at the Mapei, but Spezia need Esposito back among the goals.

The defence is also worrying the manager, with only two clean sheets in the last six. D’Angelo wants his side to regain the solidity, which “we made one of our strong points.”

On their opponents, he said: “Cremonese is one of the strongest teams in the championship, coming from a play-off final and this year they have further strengthened. But we will have to try to do our best as always and take home points.”

On missing automatic promotion, he added: “We chased a dream for a long time but Sassuolo and Pisa were stronger than us and deserved the result. We certainly spent a lot because when you chase you always have to give something more. Now it’s time to think about the play-offs.”

This should be the game of the round – and picking a winner is difficult to call.

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