Swansea City have just nine matches remaining to secure themselves a play-off spot.

Steve Cooper's troops are set to resume the 2019/20 Championship campaign on June 20 and are firmly in the mix to secure a top six finish.

So ahead of the return of the season, we took a closer look at the Swans' run-in, the must-win games and the points total they could need to make the play-offs.

Remaining fixtures

The Swans have four matches left to be played at the Liberty Stadium, with five being away from home.

Cooper's men travel to Middlesbrough, Millwall, Birmingham, Nottingham Forest and Reading, with Luton, Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds and Bristol City due to visit South Wales.

And given that Swansea currently find themselves three points adrift of the top six, they're going to need a fair amount of wins.

So where can they pick up some positive results?

Fixtures: Middlesbrough (A), Luton (H), Millwall (A), Sheffield Wednesday (H), Birmingham (A), Leeds (H), Nottingham Forest (A), Bristol City (H), Reading (A).

Swansea City's win at Leeds United back in August seems like a distant memory now

The run-in assessed

Boro have won just two of their 14 matches in all competitions in 2020, although one of those came in their most recent fixture against Charlton.

Nevertheless, their form before lockdown was poor to say the least, and the clash with Boro represents a real opportunity for Swansea to restart the campaign with a bang, although the postponement may well work in their favour.

However, should the schedule be played out in the order previously expected, Swansea have a favourable start to the run-in.

Relegation threatened Luton Town would be the first side to visit the Liberty, with that fixture quite simply being a must-win for the Swans.

The Hatters were in good form before lockdown, but it remains to be seen how Nathan Jones will fare back at the club after the Welshman replaced Graeme Jones as boss last month.

Things get trickier in the middle of Swansea's run-in, with away trips to Millwall and Birmingham being sandwiched by a home clash with Sheffield Wednesday.

Millwall are firmly in contention to reach the play-offs, although it looks as though the Blues and the Owls have too much to do, and that could mean the pressure is off those two sides.

And things quickly have a more daunting look for the Swans as they enter what are set to be the final four games of the term.

Current league leaders Leeds United visit the Liberty Stadium before Swansea take on promotion rivals Nottingham Forest and Bristol City.

Swansea did of course stun Leeds in the opening month of the campaign, with Wayne Routledge's 90th minute winner at Elland Road seeing Cooper's side overtake Marcelo Bielsa's men at the top of the table.

But that was followed up with a first loss of the season to Forest and a goalless draw at Bristol City.

A win and two draws from this trio of fixtures would represent a good return, while anything more would be a dream.

The hope is that Swansea can remain in contention when they travel to the Madejski Stadium on the final day of the season - should the schedule remain unchanged - to play a Reading side who look destined for mid-table obscurity.

The Royals stole a point at the death in the meeting between the sides at the Liberty Stadium, but there are certainly worse fixtures to end the campaign with.

The points total needed

History shows that sides finishing sixth in the Championship end the regular season with a total of 74 points.

With only nine games to go, Swansea would need to win seven of their last nine matches to reach this total, or triumph in six and the draw the other three.

That's a tall order to say the least.

However, with such a congested schedule to come along with the already wide open play-off race, it looks as though this season's figure could be lower than usual to finish sixth. 70 points could well be enough.

A few favours here and there coupled with a surprise result or two could be the difference between Swansea having a stab at the play-offs or not.

The mood in the camp is a hugely positive one at present, according to Cooper.

And with a near fully fit squad to select from, the head coach will be confident that his players can have a real go in the final stages to ensure the fixture list is increased to 12 matches.