Championship round-up: Frank Lampard’s play-off push, Luton finally win, West Brom’s big plans, and Norwich City waste points

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With FA Cup duty for some second tier sides this weekend, and a split run of fixtures, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was an uneventful few days for the Championship, but you’d also be wrong.

There were eight games in the Championship over the weekend, with Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland getting us underway on the Friday night at Hillsborough. The Black Cats secured a crucial three points with a 2-1 win there to end a poor run of form.

On the Saturday, we saw league leaders Leeds United drop points at home to West Brom, while Sheffield United closed the gap in the title race to just three points thanks to their win over QPR.

And, after all those games, we’ve still got four more to come tonight, including Millwall vs Bristol City and a relegation fight between Hull City and Plymouth Argyle.

• READ MORE: How much Championship title is worth as Leeds United and Sheffield United chase Premier League prize fund

Luton Town get their first win under Matt Bloomfield

After weeks of waiting, Luton Town fans saw their team win for the first time under new manager Matt Bloomfield.

The Hatters secured all three points in a tight 1-0 win over Portsmouth at Kenilworth Road thanks to a goal from Jordan Clark. The win lifted Luton up to 22nd place in the table, and they’re now just two points from safety.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
20	CardiffCardiff	34	8	12	14	37	55	-18	36
21	Hull CityHull City	34	8	9	17	33	44	-11	33
22	LutonLuton	35	8	7	20	32	55	-23	31
23	PlymouthPlymouth	34	6	12	16	36	68	-32	30
24	DerbyDerby	35	7	8	20	33	48	-15	29

It’s Bloomfield’s first victory since taking over from Rob Edwards on January 13th, but fans know there is still a long way to go if Luton are to avoid back-to-back relegations.

Norwich City heading for unwanted record

Norwich City are an odd team this season. They look like genuine play-off challengers one week, but then they find a way to trip themselves up a week later.

The Canaries were leading fellow promotion hopefuls Blackburn Rovers until the 96th minute this weekend, but a late Andi Weimann goal earned Valerien Ismael a point on his first game in charge of the Lancashire outfit.

Norwich have dropped more points from winning positions than any other team in the league this season (24), and they’re now closing in on their own Championship record, set last season, of dropping 29 points when leading a game.

• READ MORE: Pascal Struijk highlights the one thing holding Leeds United back in Championship promotion race

Frank Lampard and Coventry City cannot be stopped

Who would have thought that Frank Lampard would become the success story of the season? And yet, here we are.

With 11 games to go, Lampard has guided his Coventry City team into fifth place now after a 3-2 win over Oxford United, and momentum is clearly with the Sky Blues heading into the business end of the campaign.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
3	BurnleyBurnley	34	18	14	2	43	9	34	68
4	SunderlandSunderland	35	18	11	6	52	32	20	65
5	CoventryCoventry	35	15	8	12	49	44	5	53
6	West BromWest Brom	35	12	16	7	45	32	13	52
7	BlackburnBlackburn	35	15	7	13	40	35	5	52

This is now Coventry’s best run of form for 55 years, with eight wins in their last nine games. If they keep this up, they’ve every chance of going all the way in the play-offs.

West Brom have big plans in the offing

There’s a lot going on at West Brom right now. Not only did they take a point off Leeds at the weekend, but the club has also announced a couple of significant moves off the pitch, too.

First of all, the Baggies will introduce safe standing at The Hawthorns from next season, with plans to convert roughly 4,000 seats in the stadium into a secure area to stand and watch the team. It is hoped this can remedy the poor atmosphere at the ground.

Then, the club got a £25m cash injection from Shilen Patel. The money is expected to go towards paying debts and general running costs, but it is yet another sign that the new owner is going about things the right way and is going to look after the club and its fans after years of uncertainty.

• READ MORE: ‘Out of touch’… Premier League fans slammed by Championship experts as major EFL ignorance laid bare

Middlesbrough are back on form

Middlesbrough had been on an awful run of form, with five straight defeats leaving the club sliding down the table and Michael Carrick at risk of being sacked.

Steve Gibson kept faith in the young manager, though, and things have turned around quickly. Back-to-back wins over Stoke City and Derby County have helped ‘Boro climb back into contention for a play-off place, and Finn Azaz couldn’t be happier.

He explained how he has rallied his teammates to maintain these levels from here on out, and Azaz himself believes the Teesside club can go all the way and achieve promotion this year.

Danny Rohl is being limited at Sheffield Wednesday

A third defeat in a row for Sheffield Wednesday sees the Owls slip to 13th place in the league table, and they’re now seven points off the top six.

Given their inconsistency and fairly torrid home form, it’s unlikely Danny Rohl’s side will sneak into the play-offs this season, but there is hope for the future given the foundations the young German coach has built.

However, according to an Owls expert, there is one big problem holding Rohl back at Sheffield Wednesday. He’s simply doing too much; namely, getting too involved in recruitment when he should be focused on coaching.

It’s down to Dejphon Chansiri now to restructure and release some of the pressure on Rohl’s shoulders so that Wednesday can thrive next season.