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| Martin Paterson scored in both our Christmas wins |
Maybe I shouldn't have written Coventry off. I suggested their days in the Championship were numbered as they went into Christmas six points adrift at the bottom of the league. Incredibly they are not even bottom going into the New Year after wins against Bristol City and Brighton.
They've jumped above Doncaster on goal difference after the South Yorkshire club suffered their second reverse of the week at Watford.
Bristol City's shock win at Southampton on Friday night ensured they'd be out of the relegation positions and they are now three points clear after Nottingham Forest again failed to get any points and again failed to score a goal.
On 19th November, Marcus Tudgay scored in stoppage time for Forest to complete a 3-2 win against Ipswich. They'd been in the relegation positions under Steve McClaren but by then they'd risen to 17th in the table under new manager Steve Cotterill and were two points and four places ahead of us.
Eight teams at that time had scored either the same number of goals or less. Since, they've played seven with just one point and not a solitary goal to excite the Forest fans. They are now the league's lowest scorers and are entrenched in the bottom three and now with a fixture to come against Ipswich, that last team they scored against.
That's the bottom positions sorted, but what about the top of the league where none of the top three were able to record a win. Southampton gave themselves an advantage over the weekend by playing Friday night but it didn't do them much good as they went down to a 1-0 home defeat against Bristol City.
The last team to take three points from St. Mary's prior to that was Brentford in December 2010. Their only other home defeat in 2011 was in the FA Cup against Manchester United.
That result gave both West Ham and Middlesbrough the opportunity to draw level but neither took it. West Ham were 2-0 down at Derby in ten minutes and eventually lost 2-1 whilst Middlesbrough were held at home by Peterborough when Tommy Rowe headed in a late equaliser for the visitors.
Middlesbrough's draw did take them into the top two whilst West Ham are in the play off positions going into 2012 and they've not been that low since the beginning of October.
Cardiff, Reading and Hull remain the other three clubs in the play off places and there is a three point gap below that with Burnley now in 7th place.
Those four clubs with two wins this week have all enjoyed two home games. Can any of them continue those runs?
Reading are currently in the best run having won their last 4 games whilst Brighton have lost their last four. The best unbeaten run at the moment is Watford's nine games whilst Nottingham Forest have now, hardly surprisingly without a goal, gone seven without a win.
The last results and stats of 2011 are below along with the leading scorers, each club's disciplinary record, the highest and lowest attendances and the first fixtures of 2012.
| The Week's Results | |
| Friday 30th December | |
| Southampton 0 Bristol City 1 | |
| Saturday 31st December | |
| Barnsley 4 Leeds United 1 | Middlesbrough 1 Peterborough United 1 |
| Birmingham City 3 Blackpool 0 | Millwall 0 Crystal Palace 1 |
| Burnley 1 Hull City 0 | Nottingham Forest 0 Cardiff City 1 |
| Coventry City 2 Brighton & Hove Albion 0 | Reading 1 Ipswich Town 0 |
| Derby County 2 West Ham United 1 | Watford 4 Doncaster Rovers 1 |
| Leicester City 1 Portsmouth 1 | |
| The Week's Stats | |
| Biggest Win | Barnsley 4-1 v Leeds United (home) Watford 4-1 v Doncaster Rovers (home) Birmingham City 3-0 v Blackpool (home) |
| Total Goals Scored | 27 (19 home - 8 away) |
|
Player Scoring Most Goals |
3 - Ricardo Vaz Te (Barnsley) |
| Highest Attendance | 30,328 - Southampton v Bristol City |
| Lowest Attendance | 11,654 - Watford v Doncaster Rovers |
| Total Yellow Cards | 42 |
| Total Red Cards | 2 |
| Most Cards in a Game | Southampton v Bristol City (7Y) Ref: Darren Deadman |
| Leading Goalscorers (League Only) | |
| 15 | Rickie Lambert (Southampton) - includes 5 penalties |
| 10 | Ross McCormack (Leeds United) Billy Sharp (Doncaster Rovers) - includes 1 penalty Ricardo Vaz Te (Barnsley) |
| 9 | Keith Andrews (Ipswich Town) Craig Davies (Barnsley) - includes 1 penalty Guly Do Prado (Southampton) Matty Fryatt (Hull City) - includes 1 penalty Darius Henderson (Millwall) - includes 1 penalty Lukas Jutkiewicz (Coventry City) - includes 1 penalty Chris Wood (Birmingham City) |
| 8 | Charlie Austin (Burnley) Carlton Cole (West Ham United) Grant McCann (Peterborough United) - includes 2 penalties David Nugent (Leicester City) Robert Snodgrass (Leeds United) - includes 1 penalty Marvin Sordell (Watford) - includes 2 penalties |
| 7 | Michael Chopra (Ipswich Town) Marvin Emnes (Middlesbrough) Robert Koren (Hull City) Nicky Maynard (Bristol City) Scott McDonald (Middlesbrough) Kenny Miller (Cardiff City) Kevin Phillips (Blackpool) Jay Rodriguez (Burnley) - includes 1 penalty Pete Whittingham (Cardiff City) - includes 2 penalties |
| Hat Tricks | |
| Date | Player & Game |
| 20/08/11 | 3: Lee Tomlin - PETERBOROUGH UNITED v Ipswich Town |
| 10/09/11 | 3: Rickie Lambert - SOUTHAMPTON v Nottingham Forest |
| 11/09/11 | 3: Chris Wood - BIRMINGHAM CITY v Millwall |
| 12/10/11 | 3: Darius Henderson - Leicester City v MILLWALL |
| 02/11/11 | 3: Jonjo Shelvey - Leeds United v BLACKPOOL |
| 19/11/11 | 3: Rickie Lambert - SOUTHAMPTON v Brighton & Hove Albion |
| 26/12/11 | 3: Matthew Phillips - Barnsley v BLACKPOOL |
| 31/12/11 | 3: Ricardo Vaz Te - BARNSLEY v Leeds United |
| Disciplinary Record (League and Cup) | |||||||||
| Club | Y | R | Y | R | Club | Y | R | Y | R |
| League | Total | League | Total | ||||||
| Barnsley | 31 | 1 | 32 | 1 | Ipswich Town | 28 | 3 | 28 | 3 |
| Birmingham City | 30 | 1 | 30 | 1 | Leeds United | 38 | 5 | 42 | 5 |
| Blackpool | 34 | 1 | 35 | 2 | Leicester City | 33 | 4 | 37 | 4 |
| Brighton and Hove Albion | 58 | 4 | 64 | 4 | Middlesbrough | 40 | 2 | 41 | 2 |
| Bristol City | 38 | 0 | 39 | 0 | Millwall | 39 | 0 | 41 | 0 |
| Burnley | 32 | 1 | 40 | 1 | Nottingham Forest | 36 | 2 | 39 | 2 |
| Cardiff City | 30 | 0 | 40 | 0 | Peterborough United | 30 | 2 | 32 | 2 |
| Coventry City | 28 | 2 | 29 | 2 | Portsmouth | 39 | 2 | 42 | 2 |
| Crystal Palace | 34 | 0 | 36 | 0 | Reading | 33 | 0 | 35 | 0 |
| Derby County | 33 | 1 | 33 | 1 | Southampton | 31 | 2 | 32 | 2 |
| Doncaster Rovers | 39 | 1 | 39 | 1 | Watford | 31 | 0 | 32 | 0 |
| Hull City | 41 | 1 | 41 | 1 | West Ham United | 41 | 3 | 41 | 4 |
| Highest and Lowest Attendances | |||
| Highest | Lowest | ||
| Att | Fixture | Att | Fixture |
| 34,749 | West Ham United v Barnsley (17/12) | 6,351 | Peterborough United v Cardiff City (18/10) |
| 33,465 | West Ham United v Portsmouth (10/09) | 7,650 | Doncaster Rovers v Watford (26/11) |
| 33,010 | Derby County v Southampton (15/10) | 7,778 | Doncaster Rovers v Bristol City (27/08) |
| 33,010 | Derby County v Leeds United (26/12) | 7,901 | Peterborough United v Burnley (17/09) |
| 32,150 | Southampton v West Ham United (18/10) | 7,928 | Peterborough United v Ipswich Town (20/08) |
| 31,812 | Southampton v Brighton & Hove Albion (19/11) | 8,062 | Peterborough United v Coventry City (17/12) |
| 31,524 | Southampton v Crystal Palace (26/12) | 8,320 | Peterborough United v Barnsley (03/12) |
| 31,448 | West Ham United v Blackpool (15/10) | 8,426 | Doncaster Rovers v Coventry City (29/10) |
| 30,410 | West Ham United v Leicester City (29/10) | 8,500 | Peterborough Utd v Doncaster Rovers (01/10) |
| 30,391 | Derby County v Hull City (19/11) | 8,685 | Peterborough United v Hull City (10/09) |
| The Next Fixtures | |
| Monday 2nd January | |
| Blackpool v Middlesbrough | Ipswich Town v Nottingham Forest |
| Brighton & Hove Albion v Southampton | Leeds United v Burnley |
| Cardiff City v Reading | Peterborough United v Birmingham City |
| Crystal Palace v Leicester City (13:00) | Portsmouth v Watford |
| Doncaster Rovers v Barnsley | West Ham United v Coventry |
| Hull City v Derby County | |
| Tuesday 3rd January | |
| Bristol City v Millwall (19:45) | |