Forest won in midweek for the first time in ages and will now want to fight to get back a play off place.
Forest sit one point and one place out of the top six and join a battle with Reading (5th), Leeds (6th), Millwall, Leicester and Hull (8th, 9th and 10th respectively) for a play off place. Reading still have aspirations for automatic promotion and after this round of matches we should have a clearer picture of who can finish where.
If Forest get a result at Norwich tonight then Cardiff will stay second going into tomorrow's match with Portsmouth. What better incentive than a chance to extend a lead over Norwich. If Norwich win then they will leapfrog Cardiff into the automatic promotion places thus adding that extra bit of pressure to City tomorrow.
Swansea are away at Burnley on Saturday while Reading entertain Leicester. Burnley have been poor of late and will want to give their fans some faint hope of a play off place but realistically it's probably not going to happen but Burnley are at home on Tuesday as well playing their game in hand. Surely Reading cannot win for an 8th consecutve match? Leicester have had random results but can still see a play place as achieveable. A draw at Carrow Rd, Burnley and The Madejski would be brilliant if Cardiff could come through with three points tomorrow. But that's asking for a lot. Crucially Cardiff must do their job. If City keep winning no one can take second place from us. If we are dealt a few favours on the way then even better.
If Norwich and Swansea did only draw at best then QPR would be promoted on Monday if they beat Derby County.
Championship fixtures
| Friday 15th April 2011 | |||
| npower Championship | |||
| Norwich City | v | Nottingham Forest | 19:45 |
| Saturday 16th April 2011 | |||
| npower Championship | |||
| Bristol City | v | Ipswich Town | 15:00 |
| Burnley | v | Swansea City | 15:00 |
| Cardiff City | v | Portsmouth | 15:00 |
| Coventry City | v | Millwall | 15:00 |
| Crystal Palace | v | Scunthorpe United | 15:00 |
| Hull City | v | Doncaster Rovers | 15:00 |
| Leeds United | v | Watford | 15:00 |
| Middlesbrough | v | Barnsley | 15:00 |
| Preston North End | v | Sheffield United | 15:00 |
| Reading | v | Leicester City | 15:00 |
| Monday 18th April 2011 | |||
| npower Championship | |||
| Queens Park Rangers | v | Derby County | 19:45 |
League Table:
| Home | Away | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | Pl | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | EP | ||||
| 1 | Queens Park Rangers | 41 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 41 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 24 | 15 | 23 | 13 | 5 | 65 | 27 | 82 | +38 | ||||
| 2 | Cardiff City | 41 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 36 | 20 | 10 | 3 | 8 | 33 | 28 | 21 | 9 | 11 | 69 | 48 | 72 | +21 | ||||
| 3 | Norwich City | 41 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 40 | 25 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 30 | 27 | 19 | 14 | 8 | 70 | 52 | 71 | +18 | ||||
| 4 | Swansea City | 41 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 33 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 25 | 29 | 21 | 7 | 13 | 58 | 39 | 70 | +19 | ||||
| 5 | Reading | 41 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 36 | 20 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 34 | 26 | 18 | 15 | 8 | 70 | 46 | 69 | +24 | ||||
| 6 | Leeds United | 41 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 44 | 32 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 32 | 34 | 17 | 13 | 11 | 76 | 66 | 64 | +10 | ||||
| 7 | Nottingham Forest | 41 | 11 | 8 | 2 | 35 | 19 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 19 | 24 | 16 | 15 | 10 | 54 | 43 | 63 | +11 | ||||
| 8 | Millwall | 41 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 35 | 20 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 20 | 22 | 16 | 13 | 12 | 55 | 42 | 61 | +13 | ||||
| 9 | Leicester City | 41 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 40 | 23 | 6 | 3 | 11 | 24 | 37 | 17 | 9 | 15 | 64 | 60 | 60 | +4 | ||||
| 10 | Hull City | 41 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 15 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 30 | 28 | 15 | 15 | 11 | 45 | 41 | 60 | +4 | ||||
| 11 | Watford | 41 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 38 | 30 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 33 | 30 | 15 | 12 | 14 | 71 | 60 | 57 | +11 | ||||
| 12 | Burnley | 40 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 33 | 26 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 21 | 28 | 15 | 12 | 13 | 54 | 54 | 57 | 0 | ||||
| 13 | Ipswich Town | 41 | 9 | 3 | 9 | 30 | 31 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 25 | 23 | 16 | 8 | 17 | 55 | 54 | 56 | +1 | ||||
| 14 | Portsmouth | 41 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 31 | 25 | 7 | 2 | 11 | 20 | 29 | 15 | 10 | 16 | 51 | 54 | 55 | -3 | ||||
| 15 | Bristol City | 41 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 25 | 25 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 28 | 33 | 15 | 9 | 17 | 53 | 58 | 54 | -5 | ||||
| 16 | Barnsley | 41 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 29 | 21 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 20 | 39 | 13 | 11 | 17 | 49 | 60 | 50 | -11 | ||||
| 17 | Coventry City | 41 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 24 | 24 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 24 | 28 | 13 | 10 | 18 | 48 | 52 | 49 | -4 | ||||
| 18 | Middlesbrough | 40 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 31 | 30 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 23 | 31 | 13 | 10 | 17 | 54 | 61 | 49 | -7 | ||||
| 19 | Derby County | 41 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 33 | 26 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 20 | 34 | 13 | 9 | 19 | 53 | 60 | 48 | -7 | ||||
| 20 | Doncaster Rovers | 41 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 25 | 30 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 26 | 42 | 11 | 12 | 18 | 51 | 72 | 45 | -21 | ||||
| 21 | Crystal Palace | 41 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 26 | 19 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 15 | 44 | 11 | 10 | 20 | 41 | 63 | 43 | -22 | ||||
| 22 | Scunthorpe United | 41 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 19 | 37 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 18 | 40 | 11 | 4 | 26 | 37 | 77 | 37 | -40 | ||||
| 23 | Preston North End | 41 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 21 | 33 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 26 | 37 | 8 | 12 | 21 | 47 | 70 | 36 | -23 | ||||
| 24 | Sheffield United | 41 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 22 | 32 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 13 | 34 | 9 | 8 | 24 | 35 | 66 | 35 | -31 | ||||