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Championship preview

Image: Tony Mowbray: Has overseen a second tier surge at Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough are the form team in the Championship right now and they will go in search of a sixth straight victory on Tuesday night.

Boro face Forest; Bluebirds take on Addicks; Palace tackle Town

Middlesbrough are the form team in the Championship right now and they will go in search of a sixth straight victory on Tuesday night. Cardiff will be attempting to keep Boro from the summit, Crystal Palace and Millwall will be hoping to maintain their momentum and Ipswich will be looking to clamber off the foot of the division. Middlesbrough have put an inconsistent start behind them to surge up the second tier standings, now sitting level on points at the top, but they do not boast the best of records at the City Ground and will have their work cut out against fellow promotion hopefuls Nottingham Forest. Cardiff lead the way on goal difference at present, but the Bluebirds have tasted two defeats in their last four and will be keen to avoid suffering another untimely setback when they go to out-of-sorts Charlton. Crystal Palace have gone unbeaten since opening the season with three successive defeats, an 11-game run, and new boss Ian Holloway, who takes in his first official game in charge, is unlikely to make too many changes when the Eagles line up against another side under new management, Mick McCarthy's rock-bottom Ipswich. Back-to-back defeats have seen Leicester slip from the loftiest of perches and they face another tough ask in midweek when they travel to a Bolton side looking to make it two wins from two under new boss Dougie Freedman. Hull City currently occupy a place inside the top six and they can cement that standing, while pushing their midweek opponents further adrift of the play-off pack, when they play host to inconsistent Wolves.

Promotion push

Blackburn need to start stringing wins together if they are to mount a serious promotion push and Henning Berg will be looking for his first three-point haul when Rovers make a trip across the Pennines to Huddersfield. Draws are holding Leeds back at the moment, with four in their last six keeping them locked in mid-table, but Neil Warnock's side will get the opportunity to start moving in the right direction again when they go to Burnley - the side directly below them in the table. Millwall stunned Nottingham Forest at the weekend to take in a seventh game unbeaten, and another victory over Watford on Tuesday would move them to within sight of the promotion-chasing pack. It has been a tough week for Blackpool, with the loss of Holloway as coach followed by a weekend reversal, and things are unlikely to get any easier when they face a Sheffield Wednesday outfit that has celebrated back-to-back wins. Seven games without a victory has put a serious dent in Brighton's push for a top-six finish, and they face a Peterborough side in midweek that is scrapping for points inside the drop zone. Barnsley are precariously perched just three points above the trapdoor at present and could tumble into the bottom three if they come unstuck at Derby and other results go against them. One those clubs desperate to address an alarming wobble and become upwardly mobile is Bristol City, with the Robins travelling to struggling Birmingham on the back of five straight defeats.

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