Burton Albion's relegation 'scrap' is turning out to be anything but.
Nigel Clough reckons the Brewers have not imposed themselves on their opponents this season, with his side committing a league-low 391 fouls in 2017-18.
Sitting nine points and four places above them in the table after 38 games are Bolton Wanderers, the least disciplined side in the Championship.
Phil Parkinson's side have committed 540 fouls, averaging 14 per game - the most in the division.
That is 149 more than Burton, with Bolton committing four more, on average, per game.
It is by no means the telling distinction between the fortunes of the two relegation rivals so far this season, but it is an interesting statistic.
There is, of course, the major caveat of what is deemed a foul by some referees might not be by others, with the lines becoming ever-blurred.
Even so, according to statisticians Opta, Wanderers have accrued 90 'disciplinary points', the second most in the division behind Preston North End.
They have received 84 yellow cards and two red cards, while Burton have picked up 51 cautions, as well as two red cards. Both of those came in the first three games of the season, for Jackson Irvine at Hull City and Hope Akpan at Middlesbrough.
The only team below Burton in the Championship table are Sunderland, and they have not been helped by the physicality of their play.
They and Leeds United lead the way in terms of dismissals with six apiece, with Jake Clarke-Salter's sending-off in Saturday's 2-0 defeat to Preston largely down to "inexperience," as Chris Coleman put it.
Interestingly, Bolton are the anomaly when it comes to teams down at the bottom.
While their discipline has not prevented them from enjoying an impressive run of form in 2018, three of the five best-behaved teams in the division - Burton, Barnsley and Reading - currently sit in the bottom five of the Championship and are right in the midst of a race for survival.
So what does that say about the teams who are fighting it out to avoid the drop to League One?
Jaap Stam, who has recently vacated his post at Reading, wanted his side to get the ball down and play the patient, possession-based game that had guided them to the play-off final last season.
That meant a lot of time on the ball, and perhaps less chance to assert themselves on their opponents.
They have certainly not been able to assert themselves regularly enough this season, with one win in 18 seeing them slide down the table into 20th place, only three points clear of relegation.
Tom Naylor's winner in December's 2-1 victory over the Royals encapsulated their struggles, with Burton pressuring the home backline into submission.
During Paul Heckingbottom's time at Barnsley, he instilled a free-flowing and dynamic style of play, with little emphasis on roughing up the opposition.
Little has changed since Jose Morais' arrival after Heckingbottom's departure to Leeds last month, with Barnsley committing only 14 more fouls than Burton this season - the second fewest in the division.
Fellow strugglers Birmingham City sit 12th in terms of fouls committed, with 463 to their name.
Clough's comments are certainly given some weight given Bolton’s current position. He said: "That's one of our failings this season, I think. I don't think we have put our foot in enough, especially away from home."
Interestingly, it has been on the road that the majority of their points have come.
The Albion manager certainly is not imploring his side to "kick" players on purpose, and nor will Parkinson be.
There have been too many times this season, though, that Burton have not stood up to their opponents and taken control of matches at crucial times, with the home defeats to Reading and QPR in January a couple of examples .
Albion had committed the third-fewest amount of fouls at this stage last season as they went on to secure a remarkable Championship survival.
But the league is different this time around.
While the Brewers will look to continue with the more open, expansive style they have adopted since January, with eight games to go it is also up to them to make sure they turn the push for relegation into a 'scrap' if they want to pull clear, like Bolton.
