Source: FOOTYMAD
It's a fight for second and sixth
There are four teams chasing each of two places now in the Championship - Norwich, Cardiff, Reading and Swansea for second and Nottingham Forest, Leeds, Burnley and Millwall for sixth. With QPR all but up, Norwich have now got pole position for the second automatic spot after their 5-1 win at rivals Ipswich last Thursday. They also have the fantastic advantage of going in to today's game having had two days longer between games than some of their rivals as Cardiff have been so quick to point out.I don't think there is much the FAW can do for Cardiff this time and they sit a point behind Norwich with the outsiders now Reading and Swansea who are three and five points behind. Cardiff are also the one team in that group who have just the one home game remaining.Now down to that last play off place and such is this league that ourselves, totally out of the running nine days ago, are in with a good shout although our goal difference, destroyed in that recent run of one point from six games, could work against us.Nottingham Forest are currently in the play off positions and probably have the easiest of the run ins. They are ahead of Leeds and then us on goal difference whilst Millwall, big 4-0 winners over Preston on Saturday are just two points behind.Am I right to discard Hull who are now three points behind? Probably not given the way things go in the Championship but I do think it will be very difficult for them.In terms of home and away games remaining, all but us have one at home and two away and we need to make the most of that.Down at the bottom things are not so simple. You wouldn't bet on either Preston or Sheffield United surviving and it would be a brave bet to suggest Scunthorpe would stay up. But Crystal Palace still need a win and Doncaster could get dragged in if all the results went against them. Derby are the only other team who could be relegated but that would now take a freak set of results for both them and Scunthorpe.The weekend results are below along with the stats, the leading goalscorers, each club's disciplinary record and today's fixtures.The Weekend ResultsThursday 21st AprilIpswich 1 Norwich 5Friday 22nd AprilCoventry 1 Scunthorpe 1Nottingham Forest 3 Leicester 2Doncaster 0 Crystal Palace 0Leeds 0 Reading 0Saturday 23rd AprilCardiff 2 QPR 2Portsmouth 0 Swansea 0Derby 2 Burnley 4Sheffield United 3 Bristol City 2Hull 2 Middlesbrough 4Watford 1 Barnsley 0Millwall 4 Preston 0The Weekend StatsBiggest winMilwall 4-0 v Preston (away)Norwich 5-1 v Ipswich (away)Total goals scored39 (19 home - 20 away)Player scoring most goals3 - Scott McDonald (Middlesbrough)Highest Attendance29,258 - Ipswich v NorwichLowest Attendance10,426 - Millwall v PrestonTotal Yellow Cards29Total Red Cards3Most cards in a gamePortsmouth v Swansea (7Y) - Darren DeadmanThe leading scorers (league only)23Danny Graham (Watford) - includes 1 penalty21Shane Long (Reading) - includes 5 penalties20Grant Holt (Norwich) - includes 3 penalties19Luciano Becchio (Leeds)18Jay Bothroyd (Cardiff) - includes 1 penaltyAdel Taarabt (QPR) - includes 6 penalties17Max Gradel (Leeds) - includes 2 penalties16Scott Sinclair (Swansea) - includes 5 penalties15Bill Sharp (Doncaster) - includes 4 penaltiesSteve Morison (Millwall) - includes 1 penalty14Andy King (Leicester)13Kris Commons (Derby) - includes 2 penaltiesJay Rodriguez (Burnley)12Heidar Helguson (QPR) - includes 5 penaltiesMarlon King (Coventry) - includes 3 penaltiesScott McDonald (Middlesbrough)Lewis McGugan (Nottingham Forest) - includes 3 penaltiesBrett Pitman (Bristol City) - includes 4 penalties11Matt Fryatt (Hull) - includes 3 penalties & 2 with Leicester)Iain Hume (Preston)Chris Iwelumo (Burnley)David Nugent (Portsmouth)Davide Somma (Leeds)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 United1st Jan3 - Jason Puncheon - MILLWALL v Crystal Palace5th Feb3 - Matt Fryatt - Scunthorpe v HULL15th Feb3 - Connor Wickham - Doncaster v IPSWICH2nd Apr3 - Grant Holt - NORWICH v Scunthorpe2nd Apr3 - Simeon Jackson - NORWICH v Scunthorpe2nd Apr3 - Yakubu - Middlesbrough v LEICESTER23rd Apr3 - Scott McDonald - Hull v MIDDLESBROUGHDisciplinary Record (all domestic games)ClubYRClubYRBarnsley633Middlesbrough601Bristol City583Millwall626Burnley825Norwich693Cardiff551Nottingham Forest653Coventry645Portsmouth849Crystal Palace808Preston875Derby743QPR646Doncaster483Reading674Hull732Scunthorpe564Ipswich665Sheffield United7111Leeds834Swansea642Leicester543Watford522The Next FixturesMonday 25th AprilBarnsley v DoncasterNorwich v DerbyBristol City v Nottingham ForestPreston v CardiffBurnley v PortsmouthQPR v HullCrystal Palace v LeedsReading v Sheffield UnitedLeicester v WatfordScunthorpe v MillwallMiddlesbrough v CoventrySwansea v Ipswich
