Of the five teams in the top six at the start of the day who played only Watford won.
The big shock result came at The Reebok where Bolton were 3 up against Hull inside 8 minutes. That game ended 4-1 to the Trotters.
Watford's 2-1 home win over Derby sees them and their unlimited amount of loan players jump into 2nd.
Watford and Hull are both 5 points behind City having played two games more.
Crystal Palace lost at Sheff Weds while Leicester managed a 0-0 draw at Blackpool and missed a penalty in the process.
Brighton are now 6th after they beat Burnley 1-0. Middlesbrough dropped out of the play off places when they lost at home to Millwall.
Cardiff play the first of the games in hand at Wolves on Sunday, ko 2:00pm. The home side are in a disastrous run of form that sees them free-falling to League 1. City need to do a professional job and secure three points.
Saturday results:
- Blackburn 0 - 0 Leeds United
- Blackpool 0 - 0 Leicester
- Bolton 4 - 1 Hull
- Brighton 1 - 0 Burnley
- Bristol City 5 - 3 Barnsley
- Charlton 0 - 2 Nottm Forest
- Huddersfield 0 - 0 Ipswich
- Peterborough 0 - 2 Birmingham
- Sheff Wed 1 - 0 Crystal Palace
- Watford 2 - 1 Derby
- Middlesbrough 1 - 2 Millwall
The current league table is:
| Position | Team | Played | GoalDifference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cardiff | 32 | 20 | 67 |
| 2 | Watford | 34 | 25 | 62 |
| 3 | Hull | 34 | 9 | 62 |
| 4 | Crystal Palace | 34 | 18 | 58 |
| 5 | Leicester | 32 | 25 | 54 |
| 6 | Brighton | 33 | 12 | 52 |
| 7 | Middlesbrough | 34 | 0 | 51 |
| 8 | Nottm Forest | 34 | 3 | 48 |
| 9 | Leeds United | 33 | -5 | 46 |
| 10 | Blackburn | 33 | 2 | 45 |
| 11 | Derby | 34 | 2 | 44 |
| 12 | Burnley | 33 | 0 | 44 |
| 13 | Millwall | 33 | -5 | 44 |
| 14 | Charlton | 34 | -4 | 43 |
| 15 | Bolton | 33 | 2 | 42 |
| 16 | Birmingham | 34 | -9 | 42 |
| 17 | Blackpool | 34 | 1 | 41 |
| 18 | Sheff Wed | 33 | -8 | 40 |
| 19 | Ipswich | 34 | -20 | 39 |
| 20 | Huddersfield | 33 | -23 | 38 |
| 21 | Barnsley | 33 | -12 | 37 |
| 22 | Wolves | 33 | -9 | 35 |
| 23 | Bristol City | 34 | -14 | 34 |
| 24 | Peterborough | 32 | -10 | 33 |