Is there a way in css to select second last child?

Question

Need to ensure browser compatibility as well (should work in IE8)

I came across - :nth-last-child(2)
But it is not browser compatible as it is a css3 selector.

Also I came across a tip to get 2nd, 3rd, 4th child as - td:first-child + td + td
But no way of reversing like
td:last-child - td
to get second last child.

I don't want to use jquery.
Is applying class to the second last element is only option ?

Answer 1

The CSS3 nth-last-child is probably the way to go, since support should become more and more common.

Failing this, you could simply add a CSS class to the element in the markup eg:

<tr>
  <td>...</td>
  <td class = "penultimate">...</td>
  <td>...</td>
</tr>

Answer 2

Under the conditions specified, applying class (or id) to the second last element is only option.