Watford into automatic promotion place

Vicarage Road could be staging Premier League football next season

Sat in the comfortable seats at Amex on Saturday, the first Championship news coming through was that from the Reebok as Bolton staggeringly went 3-0 up against Hull with only eight minutes gone.

Hull had gone there with three successive wins behind them  but they started poorly with some very bad defensive play and manager Steve Bruce said after the game: "I've had better days. That start is something you see at school. How can you explain it?"

The two former Clarets in the Bolton squad, Chris Eagles and Tyrone Mears, were both left out of the side on Saturday, but both have been involved, on the wrong end, of a score like that. Both were in the Burnley side that went 3-0 down within seven minutes against Manchester City almost three years ago.

Hull's defeat was all the division's form team Watford needed. Their win against Derby was a seventh in nine games. They've been on the climb for the past two months and, despite the protestations of Ian Holloway, are beginning to look favourites for an automatic slot at the end of the season. If so, let's see how the Premier League deal with their use of players from the parent club.

At the other end of the table, Peterborough's lift off the bottom didn't last. As they were beaten they saw Bristol City go back above them after they'd beaten Barnsley 5-3 at Ashton Gate. The scoreline wasn't quite as close as it looks either; City led 5-1 with eight minutes to go. That result has potentially cost Barnsley boss Dave Flitcroft the manager of the month award.

Wolves remain in the bottom three after extending their run without a win to eleven games. Only Leicester have won less points in February and the four points won in 2013 is, alongside Middlesbrough, the worst in the league.

I do think Wolves will survive, that's provided the owner doesn't go and upset the applecart again and undermine the manager with an impromptu visit to the dressing room. They now sit four points behind Mick McCarthy's Ipswich. They were thirteen points ahead of them when their former manager moved into Portman Road.

This week sees three previously postponed games going ahead tonight, including ours against Huddersfield, and a full fixture list over the weekend.

Those fixtures are below along with the results and stats from the weekend, the leading goalscorers, each club's disciplinary record and the highest and lowest attendances.