Championship Tips: Boro can keep slim promotion hopes alive

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Leicester vs Millwall - Lions to cement their automatic spot

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Friday, 20:00, Live on Sky Sports Football

Leicester's relegation was confirmed on Tuesday night. It has felt inevitable for several weeks, with their failure to beat Hull at the KP confirming their place in League One next season. Their Premier League title may only be a decade ago, yet the club have stagnated over the last few campaigns, and many of the players are already looking for a way out.

Not even Gary Rowett has been able to save the club from the drop, and their lack of discipline and commitment has been evident throughout the second half of the season.

With the supporters frequently expressing their discontent from the stands and the majority of the squad feeling despondent, this fixture is far from ideal. A quick turnaround in front of a disenfranchised fanbase against a promotion candidate isn't likely to result in an unlikely victory, and Millwall must be licking their lips.

The Lions continued their fantastic away form on Tuesday night with a 3-1 victory at Stoke. Alex Neil named an unchanged XI for that fixture, although the quick turnaround may dictate a few alterations for Friday's fixture.

They are unbeaten on the road since visiting Coventry on January 20th. Their record when visiting struggling sides isn't quite as strong, although it's hard to imagine them slipping up here.

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Charlton vs Hull - Points shared in South London

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Saturday, 12:30, Live on Sky Sports+ App

Charlton made a lightning-quick start in midweek, but were unable to hold on against Ipswich. The Addicks are ending the season poorly and are winless in seven coming into this.

It's worth mentioning that Nathan Jones' side do not get beaten easily, and although they cannot seem to shake off this winless run, all of their defeats have come by a single goal margin.

Hosting a play-off chasing side may not be the ideal fixture for a side that still requires at least another point to be safe, yet Hull are completely out of form and are also finding victories hard to come by.

They have dropped out of the top six as a result and are winless in five. Although they've been struggling, they have managed to stay unbeaten in four of those matches and may have to settle for another point here. They have dropped out, and the numbers are not painting a pretty picture for Sergej Jakirovic, who was given his marching orders in midweek.

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Middlesbrough vs Watford - Boro to beat beach-bound Hornets

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Saturday, 12:30, Live on Sky Sports+ App

Although they remain in the automatic promotion conversation, it looks increasingly likely that Middlesbrough will be partaking in the Championship play-offs. Boro's recent form has started to pick up again, and as well as being victorious in midweek, they were good value for their point against Ipswich last weekend.

The victory over Wednesday ended their home hoodoo, and they will be confident ahead of this contest. Kim Hellberg's side appear to have ridden out the storm, and although they only netted once in midweek, they created several decent opportunities and should have been further ahead.

Watford are drifting downwards, and they have slipped to 15th as a result. Ed Still's role is likely to be discontinued in the summer with fans expecting another managerial change. They've now failed to score in three consecutive matches, and there's no reason to expect maximum effort from a side who seem to have downed tools at the beginning of April.

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West Brom vs Ipswich - Baggies to make it tough for the visitors

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Saturday, 12:30, Live on Sky Sports Football

Technically, West Brom are safe from relegation, putting eight points between themselves and the bottom three. Unfortunately, there is a potential point deduction looming for the Baggies, although we are unsure whether it will be applied to this season's total. Either way, James Morrison's side cannot relax, and they simply must continue accumulating points, just in case.

Luckily, the hosts are in fantastic form and have won back-to-back matches. They have also kept four consecutive clean sheets, a feat which was unthinkable back in January, when conceding five times at home to Norwich. Confidence is high at the Hawthorns, and several players, including Danny Imray and Isaac Price, are thriving under the current regime.

This is a tough game, but they are potentially overpriced at 3/14.00 this weekend.

Ipswich beat Charlton on Wednesday night, although it became a little nervy in the final 20 minutes. The Tractor Boys have been a little inconsistent on their travels this season and back-to-back away games are far from ideal for Kieran McKenna's side.

They've won consecutive away games just once since November, and this is a quick turnaround against a motivated side who have had an extra 24 hours to prepare.

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Birmingham vs Bristol City - BTTS at St. Andrews

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Saturday, 15:00

Birmingham are three unbeaten heading into this clash, and are searching for their third consecutive home victory. That result propelled them back into the top half, and fans will be pleased to see Jay Stansfield back amongst the goals, notching his 11th of the campaign.

Brum are simply playing for pride at this stage of the season, and with speculation surrounding the future of Chris Davies, they are unlikely to down tools just yet. The manager will continue to demand high standards for the last couple of matches.

Bristol City have improved since Roy Hodgson arrived at the club. They became the first team to stop Southampton from taking maximum points since March 11th on Tuesday night, and were good value for that result.

They are unbeaten in four of their last five and should play their part in an entertaining end-of-season contest.

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Norwich vs Swansea - Terrific Toure to strike again

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Saturday, 15:00

Norwich just about kept their play-off hopes alive by beating Derby on Tuesday night. The Canaries will require Wrexham to fail to pick up a single point from their two remaining games, yet they will undoubtedly believe that they can still reach the top six. They are in blistering form, with only Southampton having collected more points than the East Anglians since the beginning of February.

They have dealt with their fair share of injuries since Philippe Clement arrived at the club with Oscar Schwartau and Ali Ahmed the latest to miss out. Mo Toure's return has eased the burden on Mathias Kvistgaarden, who was playing through the pain barrier, and he has netted four times in his two games, and missed a penalty.

Swansea don't give much away, yet they are weaker on the road. They have very little to play for and are likely to finish the season in the top half. They could find a motivated Mo Toure tough to track.

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Oxford vs Sheffield Wednesday - Yellows to take their survival hopes to the final day

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Saturday, 15:00

Oxford's form has dropped off at the wrong time. They have won just one of their last seven Championship matches, and now failed to score in back-to-back games for the first time since February. Matt Bloomfield's side continues to work hard, and their effort cannot be faulted, but perhaps the lack of quality may just be counting against them.

They didn't play too badly on Tuesday night and their performances at the Kassam have been fairly decent. They have conceded just three times in five outings here and aren't easily breached.

At the other end of the field, they have hardly been prolific, scoring 2+ here just twice since Boxing Day, with one of those coming against a demotivated Watford side.

They cannot afford to drop any points here. If they do, they will be relegated to League One alongside Saturday's opponents. Wednesday have become tougher to beat, and they will look to turn this into an attritional battle. There won't be much between these two strugglers, who may meet again in the third tier next year.

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QPR vs Derby - Rams to keep their PO hopes alive

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Saturday, 15:00

Steve Cook made his final appearance for QPR in midweek and was given the captain's armband to mark the occasion. Unfortunately for the veteran defender, the Rs were defeated by a Swansea side who simply wanted it more.

They had a couple of chances and were undoubtedly better than their weekend's loss to Millwall, yet they lacked energy and creativity, and you suspect that many of their players have already checked out for the summer.

With Wrexham not playing until Sunday, Derby have the chance to leapfrog the Welsh side and potentially go level on points with sixth-placed Hull. The Rams may have lost in midweek, yet their play-off ambitions remain intact for now.

They simply must take maximum points from this contest to give themselves any chance of extending their campaign. They played reasonably well at Carrow Road and probably deserved to take a point. Their away form has been underwhelming lately, but this is a perfect opportunity to put that right.

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Sheffield United vs Preston - Another entertaining 90 minutes in the Steel City

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Saturday, 15:00

Sheffield United were defeated by Blackburn on Wednesday night with the relegation-threatened visitors securing their place in the Championship at Bramall Lane. Rovers simply showed more desire, and played with more passion, although the Blades still created a few decent chances, particularly in the second half.

The hosts simply cannot keep clean sheets with a 3-0 success vs Birmingham on December 20th being the last time that they managed to keep a shutout in front of their own fans.

Preston were abysmal in the first half on Wednesday night, although they improved in the second period. PNE are cruising towards the end of the season, and it remains to be seen whether Paul Heckingbottom will remain in his role next year.

They have lost six of 10, but they have netted in four of their last five.

There is very little at stake here, and this should be a fairly open game of football in sunny conditions.

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Stoke vs Portsmouth - Low-key end-of-season affair

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Saturday, 15:00

Stoke's season has been slowly petering out for several months, with the Potters never likely to be drawn into a relegation battle. The locals in Staffordshire haven't had a huge amount to cheer lately, and barring a brief flurry of positive results in March, it's been fairly stale in Staffordshire.

Portsmouth confirmed their place in the 2026-27 Championship line-up with a 5-1 defeat at the CBS. It was an unusual way to clinch survival, yet other results mean that John Mousinho's side cannot be relegated and he should be praised for keeping Pompey's heads above water amidst an unprecedented injury crisis and budgetary constraints.

That may result in the visitors relaxing a little, and both sides may use this match as a chance to experiment with some fringe players. Neither will be particularly bothered about taking maximum points, but neither has been defending particularly well recently.

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Coventry vs Wrexham - Cov's wild celebrations to benefit Wrexham

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Sunday, 12:00, Live on Sky Sports Football

Derby and Hull will be hoping that Coventry can do them a favour on Sunday lunchtime and derail Wrexham's play-off ambitions.

The visitors were victorious in midweek and have put themselves in the driving seat for a top-six spot. They appear to have put their recent wobble firmly behind them, clinching back-to-back victories with a clean sheet.

Coventry won the Championship title on Tuesday night, thumping Portsmouth at the CBS. The celebrations continued long into the night, and Frank Lampard's side could feasibly take their foot off the gas for the final two matches.

There is more at stake for the visitors, and although this ground isn't an easy place to visit, this could be the perfect time to face the Premier League-bound hosts.

The Welsh side have won seven of their last eleven on the road and have tended to be better on the road.

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Now read Lewis Jones on why Wolves are a must-bet against Spurs on Saturday

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