Championship Round-Up (14th April)

Battle for Promotion
Sunderland continued their run of good form with a 2-1 win over Queens Park Rangers to keep them four points clear at the Top, Birmingham kept the pressure up on second placed Derby who were defeated by Ipswich with a 2-1 win over George Burley's Southampton.

Sunderland continue to lead the way with 82 points with 3 games to go and Roy Keane's men are now favourites to life the title. Derby are sitting in second spot on 78, with Birmingham a further point back on 77, however Steve Bruce's side have a game in hand on the two sides above them

Making up the three remaining play off positions are Preston on 71 following a 4-0 win against Coventry, West Brom on 70 despite yesterdays 1-0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday and Wolves on 70 who could only manage a draw at Crystal Palace this afternoon.

Sitting in 7th are Stoke on 68 following a 1-1 draw with Cardiff followed by Southampton and Cardiff on 66, all of the teams in contention for the play-off's have three games left

Battle to Survive:
Bottom club Luton are all but relegated following a 2-1 defeat to Plymouth. Luton are 8 points from safety with three to play and would require Hull to lose their last three games and win all their own to have any chance of staying in the Championship for a second season.

Southend also face a fight to stay up, following today's defeat to Barnsley, and are four points away from the first safe position of 21st which is currently occupied by Hull who managed a vital point against Colchester at home this afternoon.

Leeds' hope of a great escape continued as they overcame Burnley 1-0 at Elland Road, the Whites are now level on points with Hull, and following some improvements in fortune in recent weeks, may well pull of an escape when several weeks ago the Yorkshire club looked certain for relegation

Scunthorpe win Promotion
Scunthorpe beat Huddersfield 2-0 at home to seal promotion to next seasons Championship sparking a pitch invasion to celebrate the sides return to the second tier of English Football for the first time since the 1960's.

Full Results:
Crystal Palace 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2
Leicester City 1 Norwich City 2
Sunderland 2 Queens Park Rangers 1
Cardiff City 1 Stoke City 1
Leeds United 1 Burnley 0
Coventry City 0 Preston North End 4
Luton Town 1 Plymouth Argyle 2
Hull City 1 Colchester United 1
Ipswich Town 2 Derby County 1
Southend United 1 Barnsley 3
Birmingham City 2 Southampton 1

Last game played on Friday 13th April 2007 Pld Home Away Overall Pts GD W D L F A W D L F A W D L F A 1 Sunderland 42 13 4 4 33 15 11 3 7 32 26 24 7 11 65 41 79 +24 2 Derby County 42 11 6 4 30 19 12 3 6 28 23 23 9 10 58 42 78 +16 3 Birmingham City 41 13 5 3 33 17 9 3 8 25 20 22 8 11 58 37 74 +21 4 West Bromwich Albion 43 13 4 5 44 24 7 6 8 27 28 20 10 13 71 52 70 +19 5 Wolverhampton Wanderers 42 11 5 5 29 25 9 4 8 20 25 20 9 13 49 50 69 -1 6 Preston North End 42 14 4 3 37 16 6 4 11 22 34 20 8 14 59 50 68 +9 7 Stoke City 42 11 7 3 31 14 7 6 8 25 23 18 13 11 56 37 67 +19 8 Southampton 42 11 6 4 31 19 7 6 8 39 31 18 12 12 70 50 66 +20 9 Colchester United 42 14 4 3 43 16 5 4 12 22 33 19 8 15 65 49 65 +16 10 Sheffield Wednesday 43 8 6 7 33 33 10 5 7 32 28 18 11 14 65 61 65 +4 11 Cardiff City 42 11 6 4 32 16 6 6 9 23 31 17 12 13 55 47 63 +8 12 Crystal Palace 42 11 2 8 29 20 5 8 8 24 27 16 10 16 53 47 58 +6 13 Plymouth Argyle 42 8 8 5 32 25 5 8 8 23 34 13 16 13 55 59 55 -4 14 Ipswich Town 42 11 2 8 35 27 5 4 12 22 28 16 6 20 57 55 54 +2 15 Coventry City 42 11 4 6 30 20 4 4 13 14 34 15 8 19 44 54 53 -10 16 Norwich City 41 10 4 7 28 23 5 4 11 23 39 15 8 18 51 62 53 -11 17 Burnley 41 8 6 6 28 19 5 6 10 15 22 13 12 16 43 41 51 +2 18 Queens Park Rangers 42 8 5 8 29 28 5 5 11 22 35 13 10 19 51 63 49 -12 19 Leicester City 41 6 8 6 23 23 5 6 10 21 33 11 14 16 44 56 47 -12 20 Hull City 42 8 2 11 31 29 4 6 11 16 34 12 8 22 47 63 44 -16 21 Barnsley 42 8 4 9 25 28 5 1 15 23 48 13 5 24 48 76 44 -28 22 Leeds United 42 9 3 9 25 29 3 3 15 19 39 12 6 24 44 68 42 -24 23 Southend United 42 6 6 9 27 32 4 6 11 16 36 10 12 20 43 68 42 -25 24 Luton Town 42 7 5 9 32 33 2 5 14 17 39 9 10 23 49 72 37 -23

COLOUR KEY: Champions / Promotion place(s) Transfer place(s) Play-off place(s) Relegation place(s)