Who has the easiest run-in of Ipswich, Millwall, Southampton & Middlesborough? | OneFootball

While Coventry have the title race all but wrapped up, the battle for the second automatic spot in the Championship is going down to the wire.

A surprise 2-0 win from relegation-battling Portsmouth over Ipswich has thrown the proverbial cat amongst the pigeons with four teams now all within three points of each other.

Here’s how the promotion run-in is shaping up:

Ipswich Town – 75 points (41 games played)

Middlesbrough (H), Charlton (A), West Brom (A), Southampton (A), QPR (H)

Ipswich have spent a lot of this season playing catch-up with a number of their fixtures postponed and now have the busiest schedule to end the year.

Blackburn away was called off on the 80th minute mark while it took three attempts to get the Portsmouth game on, which eventually resulted in a 2-0 win for Pompey.

The Tractor Boys still have one game in hand due to Southampton’s FA Cup exploits and the nature of the fixture list has left them with three away games in a row at a crucial point in the season.

This weekend’s clash against Middlesbrough at Portman Road has the ‘six-pointer’ feel about it but Boro’s crumbling form has perhaps made this less of a contest than it may have been a month ago.

After that, Kieran McKenna’s side travel to Charlton and West Brom who are both in a relegation battle before a trip to the most in-form team in the country, Southampton.

Get through that and Ipswich have QPR at home on the final day, a team that has nothing to play for.

Millwall – 73 points (42 games played)

QPR (H), Stoke (A), Leicester (A), Oxford United (H)

Millwall have one of the kinder run-ins of the automatic chasers, kicking off with QPR at home this weekend.

After that, they travel to Stoke who have nothing left to play for and the Lions finish their season against two relegation opponents.

The first of these is Leicester, who look like they are going down without a fight, and then Oxford United at home, a team that could already be safe or down depending on how the fixtures play out.

But Millwall need to sort out their form with just one win in their past five.

Southampton – 72 points (42 games played)

Swansea (A), Bristol City (H), Manchester City (Neutral – FA Cup), Ipswich (H), Preston (A)

To be honest, it feels like Southampton could have prime Barcelona next and you would still fancy the Saints, that’s how in-form they have been.

Southampton have amassed more points than any other team since Tonda Eckert took over and have bounced back from an underwhelming start to the campaign.

Next is Swansea and Bristol City, two teams with not a lot left to play for before a trip to Wembley for the FA Cup semi-final.

It is fair to suggest though that Eckert may not put all his eggs in the FA Cup basket given Southampton have Ipswich at home after that, a potential decider for the second automatic promotion spot.

On the final day, Southampton face Preston who are midtable.

Middlesbrough – 72 points (42 games played)

Ipswich (A), Sheffield Wednesday (H), Watford (H), Wrexham (A)

For as good as Southampton’s form has been, Middlesbrough’s has been the opposite.

The once favourites for the second-place spot have capitulated and are 20th in the form table for the last five matches.

That has dropped them from not only out of the automatic but even keeping one eye over their shoulder with seventh-place Wrexham eight points off.

They face a tough task this weekend with a trip to Portman Road but that is followed by the gimme of Sheffield Wednesday at home.

Watford at home should be straightforward, but if Wrexham are still in the playoff chase come the final day, that could be a tricky trip to the Racecourse.