Source: FOOTYMAD
Close fight for second place
QPR have now gone seven points clear at the top of the Championship following their second Christmas win against Coventry, but there's a close battle behind them with Cardiff, Swansea and Leeds separated only by goal difference. The last of the Bank Holiday games was played on Wednesday night, with Forest winning beating Derby comfortably to pick up three points and lift the 'Brian Clough Trophy', but such have been the issues at Turf Moor that the reporting of the games is somewhat late.It's the battle that's started for the second place that's intriguing now. Cardiff, despite getting hammered at Watford, are second but ahead of Swansea and Leeds only on goal difference with all three just one point ahead of Norwich.Coventry remain the other side in the play offs but they are now five points behind the rest and if this pattern continues the clubs hovering just below the play offs might find themselves with only one place to fight for.Meanwhile down at the bottom it was disaster day for Preston. Apart from losing themselves to Middlesbrough they also learned that Scunthorpe had ended their wretched run with that result at Turf Moor. It's left North End five points from safety and a big battle to stay up.The games come thick and fast with the next set of fixtures tomorrow when all twelve games are played on the Saturday. Those fixtures are below along with the results and stats from midweek, the leading goalscorers and each club's disciplinary record.The Bank Holiday ResultsTuesday 28th DecemberBristol City 1 Crystal Palace 1Millwall 2 Leicester 0Burnley 0 Scunthorpe 2Norwich 4 Sheffield United 2Coventry 0 QPR 2Preston 1 Middlesbrough 3Doncaster v Ipswich - PostponedSwansea 1 Barnsley 0Hull 1 Reading 1Watford 4 Cardiff 1Leeds 3 Portsmouth 3.Wednesday 29th DecemberNottingham Forest 5 Derby 2.The Bank Holiday StatsBiggest winNottingham Forest 5-2 v Derby (home)Watford 4-1 v Cardiff (home)Total goals scored39 (22 home - 17 away)Player scoring most goals3 - Wes Hoolahan (Norwich)Highest Attendance31,556 - Leeds v PortsmouthLowest Attendance11,946 - Preston v MiddlesbroughTotal Yellow Cards35Total Red Cards2Most cards in a gameBristol City v Crystal Palace 97Y) - Paul TierneyThe leading scorers (league only)13Jay Bothroyd (Cardiff)Kris Commons (Derby) - includes 2 penalties12Danny Graham (Watford) - includes 1 penalty11Luciano Becchio (Leeds)Adel Taarabt (QPR) - includes 4 penalties9Chris Iwelumo (Burnley)Grant Holt (Norwich)Andy King (Leicester)Jamie Mackie (QPR)Lewis McGugan (Nottingham Forest) - includes 1 penaltySteve Morison (Millwall) - includes 1 penalty8Max Gradel (Leeds) - includes 1 penaltyAdam Hammill (Barnsley)Wes Hoolahan (Norwich) - includes 4 penaltiesShane Long (Reading) - includes 4 penaltiesScott Sinclair (Swansea)7James Hayter (Doncaster)Jonny Howson (Leeds)David Nugent (Portsmouth)Jon Parkin (Preston)Billy Sharp (Doncaster) - includes 3 penaltiesJason Scotland (Ipswich)Marvin Sordell (Watford)Jonathan Stead (Bristol City)Hat Tricks (league only)11th Sep3 - Chris Iwelumo - BURNLEY v Preston14th Sep3 - James Coppinger - DONCASTER v Norwich14th Sep3 - James Vaughan - CRYSTAL PALACE v Portsmouth28th Sep3 - Jon Parkin - Leeds v PRESTON30th Oct3 - Jonny Howson - Scunthorpe v LEEDS13th Nov3 - Luciano Becchio - LEEDS v Bristol City27th Nov3 - Grant Holt - NORWICH v Leeds28th Dec3 - Wes Hoolahan - NORWICH v Sheffield UnitedDisciplinary Record (all domestic games)ClubYRClubYRBarnsley360Middlesbrough341Bristol City331Millwall363Burnley404Norwich363Cardiff291Nottingham Forest290Coventry432Portsmouth383Crystal Palace375Preston515Derby411QPR373Doncaster261Reading383Hull451Scunthorpe231Ipswich353Sheffield United345Leeds472Swansea462Leicester272Watford260The New Year's Day FixturesSaturday 1st JanuaryBristol City v CardiffMillwall v Crystal Palace (13:30)Burnley v Sheffield UnitedNorwich v QPRCoventry v IpswichNottingham Forest v BarnsleyDoncaster v ScunthorpePreston v DerbyHull v LeicesterSwansea v ReadingLeeds v Middlesbrough (13:00)Watford v Portsmouth (17:20)
