Championship round-up as Leeds United recover, Bristol City make their move, and Birmingham City join the party

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After another round of midweek fixtures in the second tier, things are just as unpredictable and tense as ever at both ends of the table — catch up with everything here in our Championship round-up for gameweek 41.

The games at the weekend led us down one path, with Burnley taking top spot, Middlesbrough climbing into the play-off places, and the Championship relegation battle swallowing up more teams.

However, the results this week have sent things on a different course entirely, with a new league leader, more change in the top six, and even a promotion to celebrate for one team.

While some big games, like Derby vs Burnley and Norwich vs Sunderland ended up in a bore draw, there was a little more excitement to be had if you were watching Blackburn Rovers vs Sheffield Wednesday, with the home side coming back from two goals down to grab a point at Ewood Park on Tuesday night.

Meanwhile, Watford plunged Hull further into trouble with a 1-0 win at Vicarage Road, and Swansea City may well have condemned Plymouth Argyle to League One after a 3-0 drubbing on Wednesday.

But, here are the main stories that steal the headlines in our Championship round-up this week.

• READ MORE: Burnley’s January transfer that may single-handedly win them promotion with the key difference he’s made

The Championship title race just became even more difficult to predict

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past couple of weeks, you’ll know that the main story in the Championship of late has been the fact that Leeds were falling apart again.

Well, it seems Daniel Farke’s men have managed to put themselves back together now, as they put on a strong performance away at Middlesbrough on Tuesday night to claim a 1-0 win and return to the top of the Championship table.

Dan James was the star of the show, scoring the only goal in a very open game between two top sides; one that Farke was relieved ended up in a clean sheet for his team.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LeedsLeeds	41	24	13	4	80	28	52	85
2	BurnleyBurnley	41	23	16	2	55	12	43	85
3	Sheff UtdSheffield Utd	41	26	7	8	56	31	25	83
4	SunderlandSunderland	41	21	13	7	57	37	20	76

Elsewhere, as we said, Burnley dropped points to Derby, while Sheffield United lost again, with a 1-0 defeat at home to Millwall seeing them lose pace at the top.

Were it not for United’s two-point penalty at the start of the season, we’d currently have all three top teams on 85 points. Still, this Championship title race is incredibly tight, and there’s just no way of knowing which way it’ll go.

• READ MORE: Middlesbrough vs Leeds United player ratings as 10/10 ‘livewire’ wins it and ‘nightmare’ showing costs Michael Carrick

Bristol City are now the favourites for the play-offs

Bristol City have been the underdogs this season for far too long, and they finally came out and showed the whole league that they mean business on Tuesday night.

A last-gasp winner against fellow promotion hopefuls West Brom saw Bristol City climb to fifth in the table, and they’re now three points clear of seventh-placed Middlesbrough.

With the form they’re in, it’s hard to see Bristol City dropping out of that top six now, especially with relatively comfortable ties against QPR, Luton, and Preston to come.

Middlesbrough will still feel they can get back into the mix before the season is out, and Coventry City round out the top six as things stand, but it can all change in the blink of an eye as we’ve already seen this week.

• READ MORE: The ‘world-class’ role Tom Brady played in getting Birmingham City promoted to the Championship

Birmingham City are ready to take the Championship by storm

Arguably the biggest story in the Championship this week, though, didn’t actually involve a team playing in the second tier… at least not yet.

That’s because Birmingham City have confirmed their promotion back to the Championship after beating Peterborough United 2-1 on Tuesday night.

Manager Chris Davies has kept his players focused on the mission ahead, which is to clinch the title, and also try and lift the Vertu Trophy on Sunday afternoon.

We know that Birmingham will spend big in the summer to try and get back-to-back promotions, and we’re sure most of the teams in the Championship are worried about the prospect of the rampant Blues coming up to stir things up next season.

• READ MORE: Alfie May reacts to Birmingham City promotion with rousing 32-word Wembley rallying cry

Coventry City leave it late to beat Portsmouth – they’re back in the top six

The main game on Wednesday night saw Coventry City host Portsmouth at the CBS Arena, and for 93 minutes it was a pretty dull affair, aside from a fairly obvious penalty shout for the Sky Blues.

However, if there’s one thing we’ve learned about Coventry this season, it’s that you stay focused until the last whistle, and Frank Lampard’s side proved that once again with a 94th minute winner from local lad, Jamie Paterson.

Lampard discussed the late drama in his post-match interview, but the fact of the matter is, it’s another three points for Coventry and they’re now back in the top six with five games to go.

It’s so tight around those play-off spots that one slip-up could kill their chances entirely, but for now, Lampard’s barmy army marches on.