Coventry City, Middlesbrough, Ipswich Town and Millwall are firmly in the race for automatic promotion into the Premier League.
Middlesbrough remain in the race for automatic promotion and Kim Hellberg will hope to bring an end to the club’s nine-year absence from the Premier League.
The Swedish head coach has made a largely positive impact since his appointment was confirmed in November last year and he has ensured the Boro have remained one of the frontrunners for promotion. However, they are far from alone in what now appears to be a four horse race for the two automatic promotion spots available in the second tier of English football.
As it stands as the domestic action gives way for the final international break of the season, Coventry City are leading the way in the Championship and appear to have one foot in the top flight after opening up a nine point advantage at the top of the table with just seven games remaining in the campaign. Boro are sitting in second place and they are just a point clear of third placed Ipswich Town and fourth placed Millwall as the season rapidly approaches what is expected to be a thrilling climax.
But which of the four sides has the most difficult run-in and where could the defining fixtures take place before the regular season comes to a close in the first week of May? We take a look at the games remaining for each of the four clubs and judge the difficulty of the challenges that lie ahead of them based on the average current league positions of the sides they will face between now and the end of the season.
Who do the Championship promotion contenders facing between now and the end of the season?
Ellis Simms of Coventry City scores his team's fourth goal past Sol Brynn of Middlesbrough.placeholder image
Ellis Simms of Coventry City scores his team's fourth goal past Sol Brynn of Middlesbrough. | Getty Images
1st: Coventry City - 80 points
3/4: Derby County (H) 6/4 Hull City (A) 11/4 Sheffield Wednesday (H) 17/4 Blackburn Rovers (A) 21/4 Portsmouth (H) 25/4 Wrexham (H) 2/5 Watford (A) Average current position of opponents: 13.3
2nd: Middlesbrough - 71 points
3/4: Millwall (H) 6/4 Swansea City (A) 11/4 Portsmouth (H) 19/4 Ipswich Town (A) 22/4 Sheffield Wednesday (H) 25/4 Watford (H) 2/5 Wrexham (A) Average current position of opponents: 11.7
3rd: Ipswich Town - 69 points
6/4: Birmingham City (H) 11/4 Norwich City (A) 14/4 Portsmouth (H) 19/4 Middlesbrough (H) 22/4 Charlton Athletic (A) 25/4 West Bromwich Albion (A) 28/4 Southampton (A) 2/5 QPR (H) Average current position of opponents: 12.5
4th: Millwall - 69 points
3/4: Middlesbrough (A) 6/4 Norwich City (H) 10/4 West Bromwich Albion (A) 18/4 Queens Park Rangers (H) 21/4 Stoke City (A) 25/4 Leicester City (A) 2/5 Oxford United (H) Average current position of opponents: 14.9
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