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Add to that Nottingham Forest's 3-2 defeat at Swansea and our defeat is not quite so damaging again and we still sit just three points behind the play offs with a game in hand.
One to watch right now is Reading. Three successive wins and a run of seven games without defeat, which is very similar to our recent run, has moved them back up the table and they've sneaked into that place just behind the play offs, pushing us down to 8th. They are above us on goal difference and, like us, have a game in hand on the teams above them.
Of those teams in the play offs, Cardiff for one have hit a patch of indifferent form. They failed to win any of their last four games, have won only two of their last eight, and they have both Jay Bothroyd and former Newcastle striker Michael Chopra on the injured list.
If that's bad, what about Nottingham Forest. Four weeks ago they beat Cardiff to go second in the table. Since, they've picked up just four points from seven games. They now look the most vulnerable in the top six.
Down at the bottom there's a stirring. Crystal Palace must have been relieved they managed a draw at Derby when they saw the results from elsewhere. A Darren Ambrose penalty secured the point before they learned that the bottom two Sheffield United and Preston had both won.
It's like the bus service for Preston; they waited an age for a win to come and then two came at once. They are still in a perilous position but will have taken heart from Scunthorpe's defeat at Ipswich, the home side winning with two outstanding goals. The howitzer from Carlos Edwards reminded me of the one he hammered past Brian Jensen at Sunderland four years ago.
We've got a two week break now before the final push for results at either end of the table. The weekend results are shown below with the stats, the leading goalscorers, each club's disciplinary records and the next fixtures.
The Weekend Results | |
Saturday 19th March | |
Barnsley 0 Reading 1 | Leicester 0 Portsmouth 1 |
Bristol City 2 Burnley 0 | Middlesbrough 2 Watford 1 |
Crystal Palace 2 Derby 2 | Millwall 3 Cardiff 3 |
Doncaster 0 QPR 1 | Preston 2 Coventry 1 |
Hull 1 Norwich 1 | Sheffield United 2 Leeds 0 |
Ipswich 2 Scunthorpe 0 | Swansea 3 Nottingham Forest 2 |
The Weekend Stats | |
Biggest win | Bristol City 2-0 v Burnley (home) |
Total goals scored | 32 (19 home - 13 away) |
Player scoring most goals | Fabio Borini (Swansea) |
Highest Attendance | 26,645 - Leicester v Portsmouth |
Lowest Attendance | 10,284 - Barnsley v Reading |
Total Yellow Cards | 41 |
Total Red Cards | 3 |
Most cards in a game | Millwall v Cardiff (6Y 1R) - Anthony Taylor |
The leading scorers (league only) | |
22 | Danny Graham (Watford) - includes 1 penalty |
18 | Shane Long (Reading) - includes 5 penalties |
16 | Luciano Becchio (Leeds) Grant Holt (Norwich) - includes 2 penalties Scott Sinclair (Swansea) - includes 5 penalties |
15 | Jay Bothroyd (Cardiff) Bill Sharp (Doncaster) - includes 4 penalties Adel Taarabt (QPR) - includes 6 penalties |
14 | Max Gradel (Leeds) - includes 2 penalties |
13 | Kris Commons (Derby) - includes 2 penalties Andy King (Leicester) Steve Morison (MIllwall) - includes 1 penalty |
12 | Heidar Helguson (QPR) - includes 5 penalties |
11 | Chris Iwelumo (Burnley) Lewis McGugan (Nottingham Forest) - includes 2 penalties David Nugent (Portsmouth) Brett Pitman (Bristol City) - includes 3 penalties Jay Rodriguez (Burnley) Davide Somma (Leeds) |
10 | Wes Hoolahan (Norwich) - includes 4 penalties Leroy Lita (Middlesbrough) - includes 2 penalties Marvin Sordell (Watford) |
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 | 57 | 2 | Middlesbrough | 53 | 1 |
| Bristol City | 49 | 2 | Millwall | 58 | 5 |
| Burnley | 69 | 4 | Norwich | 63 | 3 |
| Cardiff | 50 | 1 | Nottingham Forest | 57 | 1 |
| Coventry | 60 | 5 | Portsmouth | 68 | 6 |
| Crystal Palace | 69 | 6 | Preston | 76 | 5 |
| Derby | 65 | 2 | QPR | 59 | 6 |
| Doncaster | 41 | 3 | Reading | 61 | 4 |
| Hull | 67 | 2 | Scunthorpe | 46 | 2 |
| Ipswich | 58 | 4 | Sheffield United | 62 | 10 |
| Leeds | 75 | 4 | Swansea | 57 | 2 |
| Leicester | 43 | 2 | Watford | 45 | 2 |
The Next Fixtures | |
Saturday 2nd April | |
Bristol City v Doncaster | Leeds v Nottingham Forest (12:45) |
Burnley v Ipswich | Middlesbrough v Leicester |
Cardiff v Derby | Norwich v Scunthorpe |
Coventry v Watford | Preston v Swansea |
Crystal Palace v Barnsley | Reading v Portsmouth |
Hull v Millwall (13:00) | |
Monday 4th April | |
QPR v Sheffield United | |