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We haven't come out of it too badly with just Hull and Reading having gone above us. Hull lead us by two points whilst Reading are above us on goal difference, and they, like all but Nottingham Forest of the seven above them, have now played two games more than us.
A win and a draw from those two games would have seen us in seventh place but the reality of it all now is that we sit seven points behind Leeds who occupy sixth place in the league, the last place in the play off positions.
It's going to be a tough ask between now and the end of the season but the best news of all tonight was that four of the teams above us at kick off failed to win. Nottingham Forest, Norwich and Leeds all drew, with all of them having held leads, whilst Leicester we beaten at Cardiff. Besides Cardiff, QPR and Swansea were also winners.
That all means Swansea now sit in the automatic promotion places with QPR as things change round again but the next three places all see a drop of just one point per place.
Elsewhere in the league, should we spare a thought for Sheffield United? Perhaps not, but the Blades haven't won since they pushed the boat out to acquire Port Vale manager Micky Adams just before their New Year's Day game at Burnley.
He went into tonight's game at Scunthorpe still looking for his first win. He saw Ched Evans give them a sixth minute lead with Richard Cresswell making it 2-0 just a minute later. Even so, they still couldn't win and ended the game without a point from a 3-2 defeat and with only ten men as they saw a seventh player sent off this season, this time Shane Lowry.
They are not the only Yorkshire club who can't win, try Doncaster Rovers as well. They have won only one game since New Year's Day, that 1-0 victory against us. Donny can't score either. That night Michael Duff put through his own goal and tonight the well earned point from a 1-1 draw at Norwich came via an Adam Drury own goal. That's seven games without one of their players scoring.
It's a strange league. Derby arrived at Burnley at the end of November on a run of four wins in five. Our win that day started a run that has seen them win just once in fourteen league games whilst Watford won six on the trot but have followed that win no win in seven games.
All the wins have been coming at the top of the league. We some of those in the top six to start dropping some points now if we are going to make any impression, and we must go and get a win at Preston. It would be our first there in nine seasons.
The midweek results, stats, leading goalscorers, each club's disciplinary record and the next fixtures are all below.
The Weekend Results | |
Tuesday 22nd February | |
Cardiff 2 Leicester 0 | Portsmouth 1 Crystal Palace 0 |
Coventry 0 Swansea 1 | QPR 2 Ipswich 0 |
Derby 0 Hull 1 | Reading 2 Millwall 1 |
Leeds 3 Barnsley 3 | Scunthorpe 3 Sheffield United 2 |
Norwich 1 Doncaster 1 | Watford 1 Bristol City 3 |
Nottingham Forest 2 Preston 2 | . |
The Weekend Stats | |
Biggest win | Bristol City 3-1 v Watford (away) |
Total goals scored | 31 (17 home - 14 away) |
Player scoring most goals | Joe Garner (Scunthorpe) |
Highest Attendance | 28,310 - Nottingham Forest v Preston |
Lowest Attendance | 6,281 - Scunthorpe v Sheffield United |
Total Yellow Cards | 34 |
Total Red Cards | 2 |
Most cards in a game | Nottingham Forest v Preston (6Y) - Darren Deadman |
The leading scorers (league only) | |
16 | Danny Graham (Watford) - includes 1 penalty |
15 | Luciano Becchio (Leeds) Jay Bothroyd (Cardiff) |
14 | Shane Long (Reading) - includes 4 penalties Adel Taarabt (QPR) - includes 5 penalties |
13 | Kris Commons (Derby) - includes 2 penalties Grant Holt (Norwich) Andy King (Leicester) Scott Sinclair (Swansea) - includes 4 penalties |
12 | Max Gradel (Leeds) - includes 2 penalties illy Sharp (Doncaster) - includes 4 penalties |
11 | Chris Iwelumo (Burnley) Lewis McGugan (Nottingham Forest) - includes 2 penalties Steve Morison (Millwall) - includes 1 penalty Davide Somma (Leeds) |
10 | Brett Pitman (Bristol City) - includes 3 penalties Marvin Sordell (Watford) |
9 | Ched Evans (Sheffield United) - includes 1 penalty Wes Hoolahan (Norwich) - includes 4 penalties Jamie Mackie (QPR) David Nugent (Portsmouth) Jason Scotland (Ipswich) |
Hat Tricks (league only) | |
11th Sep | 3 - Chris Iwelumo - BURNLEY v Preston |
14th Sep | 3 - James Coppinger - DONCASTER v Norwich |
14th Sep | 3 - James Vaughan - CRYSTAL PALACE v Portsmouth |
28th Sep | 3 - Jon Parkin - Leeds v PRESTON |
30th Oct | 3 - Jonny Howson - Scunthorpe v LEEDS |
13th Nov | 3 - Luciano Becchio - LEEDS v Bristol City |
27th Nov | 3 - Grant Holt - NORWICH v Leeds |
28th Dec | 3 - Wes Hoolahan - NORWICH v Sheffield United |
1st Jan | 3 - Jason Puncheon - MILLWALL v Crystal Palace |
5th Feb | 3 - Matt Fryatt - Scunthorpe v HULL |
15th Feb | 3 - Connor Wickham - Doncaster v IPSWICH |
Disciplinary Record (all domestic games) | |||||
| Club | Y | R | Club | Y | R |
| Barnsley | 49 | 2 | Middlesbrough | 45 | 1 |
| Bristol City | 44 | 2 | Millwall | 50 | 4 |
| Burnley | 61 | 4 | Norwich | 56 | 3 |
| Cardiff | 44 | 1 | Nottingham Forest | 47 | 1 |
| Coventry | 49 | 3 | Portsmouth | 60 | 6 |
| Crystal Palace | 61 | 5 | Preston | 72 | 5 |
| Derby | 56 | 2 | QPR | 54 | 5 |
| Doncaster | 38 | 3 | Reading | 53 | 4 |
| Hull | 61 | 2 | Scunthorpe | 35 | 2 |
| Ipswich | 51 | 4 | Sheffield United | 55 | 8 |
| Leeds | 66 | 3 | Swansea | 52 | 2 |
| Leicester | 37 | 2 | Watford | 35 | 0 |
The Next Fixtures | |
Saturday 26th February | |
Barnsley v Norwich | Leicester v Coventry |
Bristol City v Scunthorpe | Middlesbrough v QPR |
Crystal Palace v Reading | Millwall v Nottingham Forest |
Doncaster v Watford | Preston v Burnley |
Hull v Cardiff | Sheffield United v Derby |
Ipswich v Portsmouth | Swansea v Leeds (12:45) |