Derby are the only winners in top five

We got things underway on Saturday, drawing 1-1 at Bournemouth. It was difficult to determine how good, or how disappointing, that result was until the rest of the clubs played over the following four days.

It turned out to be not too bad at all. QPR were beaten at home on the Sunday by 6th place Reading; Derby secured a 1-0 win at Sheffield Wednesday on the Tuesday and last night Nottingham Forest were held to a 2-2 draw by leaders Leicester at the City Ground.

It was a series of results over the last few days that left Sean Dyche looking very calm and relaxed on the Football League Show as he stood in for Leroy Rosenior and Steve Claridge, left 'Arry twitching on the following day and Little Billy ranting last night after being sent to the stands.

I thought we were better than QPR when we drew there just over two weeks ago but somehow I expected them to beat Reading convincingly on Sunday and a win would have taken them to within a point of us with a game in hand.

That wasn't the case. Reading fully deserved the 3-1 win and survived the last 20 minutes plus stoppage time with absolute ease after having former QPR central defender Kaspars Gorkss sent off.

"You can't do that. It's a clear red card," said co-commentator Don Goodman. The FA didn't agree and, for the second time in a week, overturned a Reading red card.

Derby moved into third place on Tuesday night with a 1-0 win at Hillsborough. Steve McClaren admitted his team hadn't played well and that it had been a frustrating night for his side, that was until Patrick Bamford, who opted for a move to Derby due to its geographical location, scored a superb winning goal twelve minutes from time.

Then came the big one last night' Forest v Leicester and a game full of incident. Leicester went in front through Jamie Vardy before Forest responded and by half time they led 2-1 after two goals in four minutes from Jamie Paterson and an Andy Reid penalty.

The penalty upset Little Billy because he felt former Forest defender should have been sent off. He had an altercation with referee Anthony Taylor at the interval and was promptly sent to the stands.

Whether he did his party piece of charging about waving an imaginary card I don't know but he said after the game: "Wes Morgan was the luckiest player on the pitch. It was a clear goalscoring opportunity.

"I had an exchange of words with the referee. I asked him why it was not a red card, he said that it was not a goalscoring opportunity. He sent me to the stand, for raising my voice."

He must have been apoplectic in the stands when Taylor awarded Leicester one of their trademark soft penalties in the 82nd minute. David Nugent and Paul Konchesky, the latter having been sent off, were both off the pitch so Kevin Phillips stepped up. His kick was saved but Leicester were still able to get the ball in at the second attempt through Riyad Mahrez.

A draw then and that's left the league table looking very interesting. Leicester are eight points clear of us but our lead on those behind is now Derby (two points), QPR (four points and they have a game in hand) and Forest (five points). And with Forest and Derby to come to Turf Moor for our next two games things are getting very interesting.

Below that there's a battle for the last play off place. It's Reading's just now but then Brighton and Wigan, both with a game in hand, are four points behind. Wigan won 2-0 against Barnsley in midweek but it came at a price with midfielder Ben Watson, who scored their FA Cup winning goal last season, suffering a broken leg.

Nothing much has changed at the bottom and no matter what the results are this coming weekend we'll still see all of Charlton, Barnsley and Yeovil in the bottom three. Charlton are closest to getting out but are four points behind Millwall, albeit with three games in hand.

The big news off the field this week is from Elland Road. Last week Massimo Cellino, who has agreed to buy 75% of the club, with contracts exchanged for the £25 million deal.

He met with the Football League last week and despite suggestions to the contrary it appears he's passed their League's Owners and Directors Test. However the league require more answers which are still to be provided.

Those answers are believed to be on Cellino's ability to fund both the buy-out and his financial ability to run the club. Although the Football League wouldn't comment they have rules near identical to the Premier League and their chief exec Richard Scudamore said: "We require absolute proof of funding, we engage directly with prospective owners' banks and their banking organisations, we make sure they can fund and sustain the club for the short to medium term."

I'd love to know what Scudamore found when doing such checks on Portsmouth when they were in the Premier League.

Finally, keep an eye on Middlesbrough. Goalkeeper Shay Given plays his last game for them this week as his loan reaches the maximum 93 days. He said he wanted to stay and feels he leaves with the club geared up for a return to the Premier League.

They are currently in 14th place with 39 points, 11 points behind the play offs.

All the week's results are below with the stats, the leading goalscorers in the league, each club's disciplinary record, the top and bottom ten attendances and the next fixtures.