The play-offs have been a great success since they were first introduced in 1986-87.

More teams have more to play for right to the end of the season, generating extra excitement and revenue.

They should remain part of the fabric of our game - but with a tweak to take account of changing circumstances.

Since 1990 the format has been untouched. The Premier League did not even exist back then and the financial significance of the Championship play-off final (or division two as it was then) was nothing like it is now.

Beating Middlesbrough last year was worth around £130 million to Norwich.

The prize for the Wembley winners on May 28 will be even bigger this time, with the new Premier League TV deal of more than £5 billion for UK rights alone launching next season.

 

The goalposts have move dramatically and potentially the biggest losers are the team in Albion's current position, third place in the Championship.

As things stand, there is a good chance the Seagulls will be in the play-offs and a good chance they will face Sheffield Wednesday.

That will revive memories of another semi-final between the clubs, at Highbury in the FA Cup in 1983.

Albion were a First Division team then, Sheffield Wednesday were in the Second Division. Apart from that it was a level playing field, a one-off game on neutral territory.

In the current situation the slope should be more in Albion's favour.

They are 12 points clear of Sheffield in the table, a gap which could close or widen even more in the four matches left.

The average points differential between the sides finishing third and sixth over the last six seasons has been more than nine.

Albion's 'advantage' if they end up against Wednesday would be playing the second leg at home, which really isn't that much of an advantage at all in the modern game.

This is the era of the counter-attack, of teams punishing opponents with slick breaks once possession changes hands.

Ipswich, Birmingham, Leeds, Preston, Wolves and Brentford all have better or comparable away records to home in the Championship this season.

It is worth noting too that Albion, although accumulating more points at home than away because of more wins and fewer draws, have actually lost more times at the Amex than on their travels (three compared to two).

This dissuades me from a switch to the non-League system of one-off semi-finals, with home advantage to the team finishing highest.

There is another way of building in a bit more of an advantage to the team finishing third. They go through if the aggregate scores are level, without the need for extra-time and possibly penalties.

It would be sickening for Albion if, as manager Chris Hughton may recall, they end up suffering the same sort of fate as Nottingham Forest six years ago.

Newcastle were runaway champions under Hughton in 2009-10. Blackpool finished sixth, nine points behind Forest in third, and were promoted via the play-offs.

It should not take a similar injustice, with the stakes so high now, to prompt a re-think.

Albion can avoid this potential nightmare by going up automatically. A top two finish is still well within their grasp if they beat QPR at the Amex tonight.

That would leave them, at worst, a point off second place and two points off the top, with rivals Burnley and Middlesbrough meeting each other at Turf Moor.

It is going to be a thrilling finale one way or another, hopefully not with a play-off sting in the tail even harder to take for Albion than losing to Palace three years ago.