4th place up for grabs again

25 March 2012 09:39
All the play off chasing team are stuttering.

For the third time in a week Cardiff have the chance to go 4th. Today's opponents Birmingham are level on points with Cardiff so will also be looking to jump into the play off places.

Saturday's results saw the top two of Southampton and Reading both win but the teams in the play off places all failed to win.

West Ham drew at Burnley after being 2 nil down. Brighton drew at Forest with the home side levelling deep in injury time. Middlesbrough were held at home by Bristol City while Blackpool were beaten at Reading.

The inability of any team to put a run together has made the chase for the play offs extend down the table. Teams like Watford and Crystal Palace in 13th and 14th place respectively are only six and seven points away from 6th place.

Saturday results:

Barnsley 1 Peterborough 0 Cotterill 24    Attend: 9698 Half-time: 1-0   Burnley 2 West Ham 2 Bartley 25 Paterson 36  Nolan 68 Tomkins 70  Attend: 15246 Half-time: 2-0   Coventry 2 Portsmouth 0 McSheffrey 55 Norwood 77    Attend: 15809 Half-time: 0-0   Derby 3 Crystal Palace 2 Davies 6 Hendrick 29 Robinson pen 49  C Martin 79 Ambrose 90  Attend: 25222 Half-time: 2-0   Leicester 2 Hull 1 Dyer 18 Marshall 19  Fryatt 8  Attend: 23759 Half-time: 2-1   Middlesbrough 1 Bristol City 1 Martin 56  Ephraim 13  Attend: 15275 Half-time: 0-1   Millwall 0 Leeds 1   McCormack 65  Attend: 14309 Half-time: 0-0   Nottm Forest 1 Brighton 1 Lynch 90  Vokes 63  Attend: 21249 Half-time: 0-0   Reading 3 Blackpool 1 Harte 30 Pearce 35 Leigertwood 60  LuaLua 41  Attend: 20906 Half-time: 2-1   Southampton 2 Doncaster 0 Sharp 58 , 75    Attend: 30209 Half-time: 0-0   Watford 2 Ipswich 1 Murray 71 Deeney 82  Emmanuel-Thomas 18  Attend: 12757 Half-time: 0-1

League table:

 HomeAwayOverall  #TeamPlWDLFAWDLFAWDLFAPtsGD 1 Southampton 39 15 3 2 42 13 8 6 5 30 22 23 9 7 72 35 78 +37 2 Reading 39 12 4 4 31 16 10 3 6 25 18 22 7 10 56 34 73 +22   3 West Ham United 38 9 7 3 28 18 10 5 4 31 20 19 12 7 59 38 69 +21 4 Brighton & Hove Albion 39 11 5 3 32 16 6 6 8 16 24 17 11 11 48 40 62 +8 5 Middlesbrough 38 7 9 4 20 18 9 4 5 25 24 16 13 9 45 42 61 +3 6 Blackpool 39 10 6 3 33 20 6 6 8 33 36 16 12 11 66 56 60 +10   7 Birmingham City 37 11 7 1 29 10 5 4 9 29 30 16 11 10 58 40 59 +18 8 Cardiff City 38 10 4 5 33 27 5 10 4 23 22 15 14 9 56 49 59 +7 9 Hull City 38 9 4 6 21 17 7 6 6 17 15 16 10 12 38 32 58 +6 10 Leeds United 39 8 3 8 29 34 8 6 6 30 23 16 9 14 59 57 57 +2 11 Leicester City 38 10 4 5 31 20 5 6 8 25 28 15 10 13 56 48 55 +8 12 Derby County 39 11 2 7 27 21 5 5 9 17 31 16 7 16 44 52 55 -8 13 Watford 39 9 5 6 29 29 5 7 7 17 26 14 12 13 46 55 54 -9 14 Crystal Palace 38 7 9 2 19 10 6 5 9 20 25 13 14 11 39 35 53 +4 15 Ipswich Town 38 10 1 7 35 25 5 5 10 26 42 15 6 17 61 67 51 -6 16 Burnley 38 6 7 6 29 22 8 1 10 21 25 14 8 16 50 47 50 +3 17 Barnsley 39 9 3 8 31 32 4 4 11 16 30 13 7 19 47 62 46 -15 18 Peterborough United 38 9 2 7 37 30 3 6 11 22 32 12 8 18 59 62 44 -3 19 Millwall 39 5 6 9 21 27 5 4 10 23 27 10 10 19 44 54 40 -10 20 Nottingham Forest 38 5 4 11 19 31 6 2 10 22 28 11 6 21 41 59 39 -18 21 Bristol City 39 5 4 10 19 28 4 5 11 14 33 9 9 21 33 61 36 -28   22 Coventry City 39 8 6 6 26 21 0 5 14 9 31 8 11 20 35 52 35 -17 23 Doncaster Rovers 38 4 8 7 15 23 3 2 14 18 40 7 10 21 33 63 31 -30 24 Portsmouth (-10) 38 8 5 5 24 15 2 5 13 14 28 10 10 18 38 43 30 -5

Source: FOOTYMAD