All three are doing well and have shot up the table in recent weeks. The first two are now very much in the play off positions whilst Brighton are pushing ever closer towards them.
Birmingham could only draw 0-0 with Hull on Tuesday but that was probably no surprise for two of the league's meanest defences alongside Reading, and it was Reading who benefited with their win taking them into the top six in Hull's place.
The top three haven't changed. Third place Cardiff easily beat Peterborough and the top two, West Ham and Southampton, fought out a draw at the Boleyn Ground despite West Ham being forced to play with ten men for all but the first 18 minutes after Matty Taylor was sent off.
Taylor was one of three Championship players sent off on Tuesday and to add to that there were a staggering 47 yellow cards. It's always going to be a high number when Darren Deadman is involved in the Championship but even he was overshadowed this week.
Deadman collected an almost standard six cards in the game between Portsmouth and Ipswich but he was well and truly outdone by Lee Collins. The Bristol City v Crystal Palace game was his first ever at this level and he produced a grand total of nine yellow cards including seven for the home side.
Bristol City are still fourth from bottom but that might change before they kick off again. It's all dependent on whether Portsmouth, currently 18th, go into administration and earn themselves a ten point penalty. if they do they'll be 21st and out of the drop zone on goal difference only.
Otherwise that drop zone won't be changing soon. Coventry beat Leeds (and that was an enjoyable result) but Nottingham Forest and Doncaster both lost. Well done though to Forest. Despite losing they did score a goal.
That means they've scored in successive games, and it's the first time they've done that since October.
Scoring goals hasn't proved to be a massive problem for us. We've scored in all but three of our last nineteen league games. We've currently got 47 points from 31 games too, and that's exactly the same as last season and indeed the promotion season of 2008/09. A 2009 finish rather than a 2011 finish and who know?
The midweek results and stats are below along with the leading goalscorers, each club's disciplinary record, the highest and lowest attendances and the next fixtures.
The Week's Results | |
Tuesday 14th February | |
Birmingham City 0 Hull City 0 | Derby County 0 Reading 1 |
Brighton & Hove Albion 2 Millwall 2 | Doncaster Rovers 1 Blackpool 3 |
Bristol City 2 Crystal Palace 2 | Middlesbrough 2 Nottingham Forest 1 |
Burnley 2 Barnsley 0 | Portsmouth 0 Ipswich Town 1 |
Cardiff City 3 Peterborough United 1 | Watford 3 Leicester City 2 |
Coventry City 2 Leeds United 1 | West Ham United 1 Southampton 1 |
The Week's Stats | |
Biggest Win | Blackpool 3-1 v Doncaster Rovers (away) Burnley 2-0 v Barnsley (home) Cardiff City 3-1 v Peterborough United (home) |
Total Goals Scored | 33 (18 home - `5 away) |
Player Scoring Most Goals 2 |
Gary McSheffrey (Coventry City> David Nugent (Leicester City) Brett Pitman (Bristol City) Gary Taylor-Fletcher (Blackpool) |
Highest Attendance | 32,875 - West Ham United v Southampton |
Lowest Attendance | 8,319 - Doncaster Rovers v Blackpool |
Total Yellow Cards | 47 |
Total Red Cards | 3 |
Most Cards in a Game | Bristol City v Crystal Palace (9Y) Ref: Lee Collins |
Leading Goalscorers (League Only) | |
16 | Rickie Lambert (Southampton) - includes 6 penalties |
15 | Ross McCormack (Leeds United) |
12 | Darius Henderson (Millwall) - includes 2 penalties David Nugent (Leicester City) Jay Rodriguez (Burnley) - includes 1 penalty |
11 |
Michael Chopra (Ipswich Town) |
10 | Charlie Austin (Burnley) Guly Do Prado (Southampton) Matty Fryatt (Hull City) - includes 1 penalty Lukas Jutkiewicz (Middllesbrough) - includes 1 penalty - (9 with Coventry City) Ricardo Vaz Te (West Ham United) - (10 with Barnsley) Chris Wood (Bristol City) - (9 with Birmingham City) |
9 | Keith Andrews (Ipswich Town) Carlton Cole (West Ham United) Craig Davies (Barnsley) - includes 1 penalty Marlon King (Birmingham City) - includes 2 penalties Robert Koren (Hull City) Scott McDonald (Middlesbrough) Kenny Miller (Cardiff City) Kevin Phillips (Blackpool) Pete Whittingham (Cardiff City) - includes 3 penalties |
Hat Tricks | |
Date | Player & Game |
20/08/11 | 3: Lee Tomlin - PETERBOROUGH UNITED v Ipswich Town |
10/09/11 | 3: Rickie Lambert - SOUTHAMPTON v Nottingham Forest |
11/09/11 | 3: Chris Wood - BIRMINGHAM CITY v Millwall |
12/10/11 | 3: Darius Henderson - Leicester City v MILLWALL |
02/11/11 | 3: Jonjo Shelvey - Leeds United v BLACKPOOL |
19/11/11 | 3: Rickie Lambert - SOUTHAMPTON v Brighton & Hove Albion |
26/12/11 | 3: Matthew Phillips - Barnsley v BLACKPOOL |
31/12/11 | 3: Ricardo Vaz Te - BARNSLEY v Leeds United |
21/01/12 | 3: Darius Henderson - Barnsley v MILLWALL |
31/01/12 | 4: Nikola Zigic - Leeds United v BIRMINGHAM CITY |
Disciplinary Record (League and Cup) | |||||||||
Club | Y | R | Y | R | Club | Y | R | Y | R |
League | Total | League | Total | ||||||
Barnsley | 40 | 1 | 43 | 1 | Ipswich Town | 37 | 4 | 38 | 4 |
Birmingham City | 40 | 1 | 43 | 1 | Leeds United | 49 | 5 | 55 | 5 |
Blackpool | 39 | 1 | 41 | 2 | Leicester City | 45 | 7 | 52 | 7 |
Brighton and Hove Albion | 72 | 6 | 85 | 6 | Middlesbrough | 49 | 5 | 52 | 5 |
Bristol City | 52 | 4 | 54 | 4 | Millwall | 53 | 2 | 58 | 2 |
Burnley | 42 | 2 | 50 | 2 | Nottingham Forest | 41 | 3 | 46 | 3 |
Cardiff City | 38 | 0 | 52 | 0 | Peterborough United | 35 | 2 | 38 | 2 |
Coventry City | 39 | 2 | 41 | 2 | Portsmouth | 49 | 3 | 56 | 3 |
Crystal Palace | 41 | 1 | 45 | 2 | Reading | 43 | 0 | 46 | 0 |
Derby County | 42 | 1 | 42 | 1 | Southampton | 39 | 4 | 42 | 4 |
Doncaster Rovers | 43 | 2 | 45 | 2 | Watford | 43 | 2 | 45 | 2 |
Hull City | 48 | 1 | 52 | 1 | West Ham United | 49 | 5 | 52 | 6 |
Highest and Lowest Attendances | |||
Highest | Lowest | ||
Att | Fixture | Att | Fixture |
34,936 | West Ham United v Coventry City (02/01) | 6,351 | Peterborough United v Cardiff City (18/10) |
34,749 | West Ham United v Barnsley (17/12) | 7,550 | Peterborough United v Portsmouth (28/01) |
33,465 | West Ham United v Portsmouth (10/09) | 7,650 | Doncaster Rovers v Watford (26/11) |
33,010 | Derby County v Southampton (15/10) | 7,778 | Doncaster Rovers v Bristol City (27/08) |
33,010 | Derby County v Leeds United (26/12) | 7,901 | Peterborough United v Burnley (17/09) |
32,875 | West Ham United v Southampton (14/02) | 7,928 | Peterborough United v Ipswich Town (20/08) |
32,150 | Southampton v West Ham United (18/10) | 8,062 | Peterborough United v Coventry City (17/12) |
31,812 | Southampton v Brighton & Hove Albion (19/11) | 8,319 | Doncaster Rovers v Blackpool (14/02) |
31,718 | West Ham United v Nottingham Forest (21/01) | 8,320 | Peterborough United v Barnsley (03/12) |
31,524 | Southampton v Crystal Palace (26/12) | 8,426 | Doncaster Rovers v Coventry City (29/10) |
The Next Fixtures | |
Friday 17th February | |
Reading v Burnley (20:00) | |
Saturday 18th February | |
Barnsley v Portsmouth | Nottingham Forest v Coventry City |
Crystal Palace v Watford | Peterborough United v Bristol City |
Ipswich Town v Cardiff City | Southampton v Derby County |
Leeds United v Doncaster Rovers |