Four of that top six won; Cardiff and Middlesbrough were the two that didn't. Cardiff picked up a point at Doncaster, the only team in the bottom three to win a point, whilst we took all three points from the Riverside.
The game of the day was probably at Millwall where the home side suffered a 6-0 against Birmingham City. The result doesn't quite tell the story with Millwall having been reduced to nine men after referee Jon Moss sent off both Shane Lowry and Alan Dunne.
By the time of the second red card they were already 1-0 down and then the floodgates opened with three of the goals coming in the last nine minutes. It all ended with further problems as one of the assistant referees was pelted, according to reports, with plastic bottles.
Needless to say I'd referred to Moss as the biggest homer only this weekend and then he sends off two home players. They were two of five players sent off in the Championship this week and all five were playing for home teams.
So Moss is a homer and I predicted recently that Middlesbrough and Leicester might be the promotion threats for promotion alongside West Ham with Southampton fading. That looks good now. Southampton won 3-0 at Forest with both Middlesbrough and Leicester losing at home.
There will be big changes at Leicester. They'll throw more money at it to get out the current run which has seen them win just once in the last seven league games. They were in the top six at the end of November but now sit in 15th place and are now seven points behind those play offs.
These gaps can be quickly closed. It doesn't seem long since I reported that we were the same number of points from the play off positions as we were from the relegation places. That's certainly not the case now. We are 15 points clear of the drop zone and only three points from that top six.
If we can continue the way we did against Middlesbrough then the only gap that will be closing for us is the one with that top six. A play off position was a wild dream just a few weeks ago, but 21 points from 9 games helps and no team in the league can better that current form.
The results and stats from the weekend are below along with the leading goalscorers, high and low attendances, each club's disciplinary record and next week's fixtures.
| The Week's Results | |
| Wednesday 11th January | |
| Birmingham City 2 Ipswich Town 1 | |
| Saturday 14th January | |
| Brighton & Hove Albion 2 Bristol City 0 | Leicester City 1 Barnsley 2 |
| Crystal Palace 1 Leeds United 1 | Middlesbrough 0 Burnley 2 |
| Derby County 1 Coventry City 0 | Millwall 0 Birmingham City 6 |
| Doncaster Rovers 0 Cardiff City 0 | Nottingham Forest 0 Southampton 3 |
| Hull City 1 Peterborough United 0 | Portsmouth 0 West Ham United 1 |
| Ipswich Town 2 Blackpool 2 | Watford 1 Reading 2 |
| The Week's Stats | |
| Biggest Win | Birmingham City 6-0 v Millwall (away) |
| Total Goals Scored | 31 (11 home - 20 away) |
|
Player Scoring Most Goals |
2 - Andy Gray (Barnsley) |
| Highest Attendance | 24,126 - Derby County v Coventry City |
| Lowest Attendance | 8,834 - Doncaster Rovers v Cardiff City |
| Total Yellow Cards | 38 |
| Total Red Cards | 5 |
| Most Cards in a Game | Millwall v Birmingham City (5Y 2R) Ref: Jon Moss |
| Leading Goalscorers (League Only) | |
| 15 | Rickie Lambert (Southampton) - includes 5 penalties |
| 11 | Ross McCormack (Leeds United) |
| 10 | Guly Do Prado (Southampton) Billy Sharp (Doncaster Rovers) - includes 1 penalty Ricardo Vaz Te (Barnsley) |
| 9 | Keith Andrews (Ipswich Town) Charlie Austin (Burnley) Craig Davies (Barnsley) - includes 1 penalty Matty Fryatt (Hull City) - includes 1 penalty Darius Henderson (Millwall) - includes 1 penalty Lukas Jutkiewicz (Middlesbroughy) - includes 1 penalty - (9 with Coventry City) Marlon King (Birmingham City) - includes 2 penalties Robert Snodgrass (Leeds United) Chris Wood (Bristol City) - (9 with Birmingham City) |
| 8 | Carlton Cole (West Ham United) Robert Koren (Hull City) Nicky Maynard (Bristol City) Grant McCann (Peterborough United) - includes 2 penalties Kenny Miller (Cardiff City) David Nugent (Leicester City) Jay Rodriguez (Burnley) - includes 1 penalty Marvin Sordell (Watford) - 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 | 34 | 1 | 37 | 1 | Ipswich Town | 32 | 3 | 33 | 3 |
| Birmingham City | 34 | 1 | 36 | 1 | Leeds United | 39 | 5 | 45 | 5 |
| Blackpool | 35 | 1 | 36 | 2 | Leicester City | 37 | 5 | 43 | 5 |
| Brighton and Hove Albion | 60 | 5 | 69 | 5 | Middlesbrough | 43 | 2 | 44 | 2 |
| Bristol City | 41 | 1 | 43 | 1 | Millwall | 42 | 2 | 45 | 2 |
| Burnley | 38 | 2 | 46 | 2 | Nottingham Forest | 36 | 3 | 39 | 3 |
| Cardiff City | 32 | 0 | 44 | 0 | Peterborough United | 31 | 2 | 34 | 2 |
| Coventry City | 31 | 2 | 33 | 2 | Portsmouth | 44 | 3 | 51 | 3 |
| Crystal Palace | 35 | 1 | 37 | 1 | Reading | 38 | 0 | 41 | 0 |
| Derby County | 35 | 1 | 35 | 1 | Southampton | 33 | 3 | 34 | 3 |
| Doncaster Rovers | 42 | 1 | 44 | 1 | Watford | 34 | 1 | 35 | 1 |
| Hull City | 45 | 1 | 46 | 1 | West Ham United | 42 | 3 | 45 | 4 |
| Highest and Lowest Attendances | |||
| Highest | Lowest | ||
| Att | Fixture | Att | Fixture |
| 34,936 | West Ham United v Coventry City (02/01) | 6,351 | Peterborough United v Cardiff City (18/10) |
| 34,749 | West Ham United v Barnsley (17/12) | 7,650 | Doncaster Rovers v Watford (26/11) |
| 33,465 | West Ham United v Portsmouth (10/09) | 7,778 | Doncaster Rovers v Bristol City (27/08) |
| 33,010 | Derby County v Southampton (15/10) | 7,901 | Peterborough United v Burnley (17/09) |
| 33,010 | Derby County v Leeds United (26/12) | 7,928 | Peterborough United v Ipswich Town (20/08) |
| 32,150 | Southampton v West Ham United (18/10) | 8,062 | Peterborough United v Coventry City (17/12) |
| 31,812 | Southampton v Brighton & Hove Albion (19/11) | 8,320 | Peterborough United v Barnsley (03/12) |
| 31,524 | Southampton v Crystal Palace (26/12) | 8,426 | Doncaster Rovers v Coventry City (29/10) |
| 31,448 | West Ham United v Blackpool (15/10) | 8,500 | Peterborough Utd v Doncaster Rovers (01/10) |
| 30,410 | West Ham United v Leicester City (29/10) | 8,685 | Peterborough United v Hull City (10/09) |
| The Next Fixtures | |
| Saturday 21st January | |
| Barnsley v Millwall | Coventry City v Middlesbrough |
| Birmingham City v Watford | Leeds United v Ipswich Town |
| Blackpool v Crystal Palace | Peterborough United v Brighton & Hove Albion |
| Bristol City v Doncaster Rovers | Reading v Hull City |
| Burnley v Derby County | West Ham United v Nottingham Forest |
| Cardiff City v Portsmouth | |
| Monday 23rd January | |
| Southampton v Leicester City | |