League One beckons for Burton Albion following that agonising final-day relegation from the Championship.
Here is the latest instalment of our season review to see how that relegation came about for the Brewers...
NOVEMBER
Three successive losses at the end of October left Albion needing a win at Millwall to move back out of the relegation zone at the start of November.
That is exactly what they got after a clash at the Den that was low on quality but high in attrition.
Burton withstood some early Millwall pressure before the game turned on Jed Wallace's second-half sending off.
Marvin Sordell notched Burton's one shot on target for the day, controlling Matt Palmer's incisive pass and drilling a finish home to secure a precious 1-0 win - their first away victory of the season.
They would quickly be sent back to losing ways at the Pirelli Stadium, though, after another international break.
Nigel Clough's former side Sheffield United claimed a 3-1 win under the Friday night lights as familiar failings caught Albion out.
After falling behind early on, the Brewers levelled things thanks to a stunning long-range piledriver from the left boot of Palmer.
The home celebrations were barely finished, though, before Billy Sharp had the Blades in front again - and Leon Clarke made sure of the points late on to move United to the Championship summit.
Being back on the road felt like a blessing at this stage for Albion after five consecutive home defeats.
And despite trailing 1-0 at Brentford with less than 15 minutes to play, so it proved.
The spark on a cool west London evening was one of Albion's 'own'.
Joe Sbarra was not even supposed to be in the squad that night, only for an injury to Jake Buxton to get him among the substitutes.
Off the bench with time ticking down, the Brewers' academy graduate cut inside and curled a cross to the far post, where Ben Turner stooped to head past Daniel Bentley and rescue a 1-1 draw for Clough's men.
It was a timely boost ahead of a crunch relegation clash with bottom-of-the-table Sunderland at the Pirelli.
The Black Cats had not won since the second weekend of the season - but they would end that run on a frustrating afternoon for the Brewers.
In an unerringly familiar pattern, Albion began brightly and came close on a couple of occasions, with Sbarra and Sordell both sending efforts just off target.
But Sunderland grew more dominant after the break, and James Vaughan got the crucial breakthrough from an 83rd-minute corner.
George Honeyman then rubbed salt into the Burton wounds as Albion were leapfrogged by Chris Coleman's men.
DECEMBER
Conceding late goals was becoming an irritating habit for the Brewers.
So it would prove again at the start of December when they made the short trip up the A38 to face Derby County.
A standout fixture on the calendar for any Burton fan, the third league meeting between Albion and the Rams looked like finishing the same way as their previous clash.
The game was goalless with 10 minutes to go, with the Brewers stifling any Derby creativity.
It only took one slip, though, for Gary Rowett's team to capitalise. Palmer took an errant touch in his own area, Johnny Russell pounced and the ball was slammed past Stephen Bywater for the decisive goal.
A week later, Preston North End became the seventh team in succession to beat Burton on their own patch, a couple of second-half goals enough for them to win 2-1 despite a last-gasp Lucas Akins consolation.
Bottom of the table after 21 games with only 14 points, Christmas 2017 looked like being a relatively miserable one for the Brewers.
A big performance was needed - and in a big game, too.
That game was a trip to relegation rivals Bolton Wanderers, who would ultimately prove Albion's downfall on the final day.
On December 16, though, it was Albion who triumphed in a crucial clash, Lloyd Dyer volleying home before half-time and Stephen Bywater then producing a string of brilliant saves to keep Burton in front for a vital 1-0 win.
Better was to come seven days on, as Burton served their travelling supporters a festive treat at Reading.
They hassled and harried the Royals into a frenzy, with Tom Flanagan's first Albion goal putting them in front and a bizarre goal from Tom Naylor - a defensive clearance cannoning off his shins and in - clinching the 2-1 triumph after Mo Barrow's leveller.
Riding the wave of back-to-back away wins, was this the time for Clough's men to end their home struggles?
No. Despite leading Leeds United at half-time on Boxing Day, in front of the Sky Sports cameras, the Brewers were unable to hold on.
Pablo Hernandez curled home a free-kick to level things up, before Kemar Roofe's effort three minutes later put the Whites into a lead they would not submit.
It would take until the penultimate day of 2017 for the Brewers to end an eight-match losing run at the Pirelli.
There were no pre-New Year fireworks involved in the goalless draw with Norwich City, but it was progress at least.
It left Albion a point adrift of safety at the turn of the year. Few would have expected that a home win was still three-and-a-half months away.
