How Middlesbrough, Ipswich Town and Millwall's final EFL Championship fixtures compare | OneFootball

FLW looks at the run-in of the sides battling for the final automatic promotion spot in the Championship

As we head into the final international break of the 2025/26 campaign, the race for second place in the Championship is set to be a real tense affair.

Three games without a win for Middlesbrough have allowed both Ipswich Town and Millwall to keep pace with Kim Hellberg's side, despite off results for them both, too. Their draw against each other in the final game before the break means that they're both two points behind Boro in second.

With a month of action remaining, where both Middlesbrough and Millwall play seven times, while Kieran McKenna's side play eight, here's how all three run-ins are shaping up.

Middlesbrough

It can be rather simple to say, but we'll get a better idea of how legit Middlesbrough's promotion hopes are after the next four games, where they take on both of their nearest challengers.

Kim Hellberg's side hosts Millwall on Good Friday in what is set to be arguably the most important game of the season so far. That is, until Boro travel to Portman Road for a meeting with Ipswich, a little over two weeks later.

Wins in both of those would not give them the points necessary to pull further away, but they'd also stop the two sides directly below them from picking up three points simultaneously.

In between those two games, Boro travel to Swansea City on Easter Monday, before they host Portsmouth the week after. By then, the Swans may have little to nothing to play for, and Pompey may be going into that on the back of four straight defeats.

However, as seen under Kim Hellberg, Boro often find it difficult to break down stubborn defences, so a meeting with John Mousinho's side may be one that they won't relish.

Luckily for Middlesbrough, though, their final three games see them take on Sheffield Wednesday, who shouldn't pose a threat, and then Watford and Wrexham, who will be hoping to finish inside the top six and will likely need a result, and it's against those sides where Boro often excel.

But, there is obviously the flip side to that, in that those are some difficult games, and Middlesbrough will have to be at their best, not only in those games, but in the ones before, too, to maintain their place in the top two over the final month of the campaign.

Ipswich Town

Currently, the race for second place is in Ipswich's hands, as Kieran McKenna's side has a two-point deficit, but a game in hand. That will then increase to two games in hand, as the Tractor Boys don't play on Good Friday due to Southampton's progression in the FA Cup.

This is where Ipswich may struggle, as they're set to play eight times in the space of 26 days, which is an average of one game every 3.25 days.

Additionally, they have to deal with three away games in a row in the lead-up to their final day clash against QPR, with just three of their remaining eight being at Portman Road, so they'll have less of a home advantage compared to their rivals.

In terms of who they play, Birmingham City will still have some faith of possibly squeaking into the top six come Easter Monday, but they will have played just three days earlier, too.

Then, there are away trips to Norwich City in the East Anglian Derby and Portsmouth, two sides who will have something to play for, whether that's derby pride or a place in next season's Championship. After that is the aforementioned home battle against Middlesbrough.

Who knows what the table will look like after that big matchup at Portman Road? Ideally, it would have the Tractor Boys in second with a bit of a buffer, as they then face the three consecutive away games against Charlton Athletic, West Brom and Southampton, and it would be difficult to imagine nine points from nine from that difficult run.

Ipswich will be hoping that both the Addicks and the Baggies will have already secured safety, with those games being their third and second-last games of the campaign, respectively. That Southampton trip takes place four days before the final day, and it serves as a game in hand for both sides.

If Kieran McKenna's side can come out of that with second in their hands, then you'd imagine that a final-day home matchup with mid-table opposition in QPR would be a lot easier to handle, and a Premier League return could materialise off the back of it.

Millwall

In terms of the points per game of their remaining opponents, both home and away, Millwall's run-in is statistically the most difficult of the three. However, when it comes to the positions of their remaining opponents, there's an argument to be made that it's the easiest.

If they can come out of the Easter Weekend unscathed, where Alex Neil's side takes on both Middlesbrough and Norwich, two of the better sides in the division, and remain within touching distance of the top two, you wouldn't bet against them completing the unthinkable and earning automatic promotion.

By the time they take on QPR and Stoke City, those two sides will be on the proverbial beach, you'd imagine. Then, before then, they take on West Brom, and after, they face both Leicester City and Oxford United, three of the current bottom five.

And while often these matchups can spring surprises as these teams will be scrapping for their lives down at the bottom, there's a reason why they are there in the first place, and it's because they've been among the weakest sides in the division so far this season.

Therefore, in terms of player quality, Millwall will have the edge in those games. If they're still in with a shout come the penultimate weekend of the campaign, they could have a say in who goes down, while also ensuring that they're the ones who end the season automatically going up.