Ranking how hard Ipswich Town, Middlesbrough and Millwall's final Championship fixtures are | OneFootball

Millwall, Middlesbrough and Ipswich Town are all in the mix for automatic promotion to the Premier League

Ipswich Town, Middlesbrough and Millwall are all level on points going into the final games of the Championship season.

The three clubs all have 72 points, but the Tractor Boys have two games in hand, giving them an edge in the battle to gain promotion to the Premier League.

Coventry City lead the table and have a 12 point advantage, meaning Frank Lampard’s side already have one foot in the top flight.

This leaves just one space remaining inside the top two, which will force two of these three clubs to have to settle for a place in the play-offs.

There are just a handful of games left for these teams to determine who will earn their place in the Premier League.

Here we review and rate each of Ipswich, Middlesbrough and Millwall’s run-ins out of 10 to determine who has the hardest games to play…

Ipswich Town’s run-in difficulty

Ipswich have the busiest end to the campaign with seven games still to go, but they are in second place, so their destiny is in their own hands.

First up is a difficult trip to an in-form Norwich City in the second East Anglian derby of the campaign.

This is followed up with a trip to relegation-threatened Portsmouth before they take on rivals Middlesbrough.

Kieran McKenna’s side end the term with consecutive away games to Charlton Athletic, West Brom, Southampton before their final day fixture at home to QPR.

With a derby, two re-scheduled midweek trips and big clashes against Middlesbrough and sixth place Southampton, this is quite the gauntlet.

QPR and Charlton likely won’t have much to play for when the Tractor Boys visit, but the Baggies could still be fighting for their survival in the Championship, which gives this an 8/10 difficulty rating.

Middlesbrough’s run-in difficulty

Kim Hellberg’s side have only five games left to leapfrog Ipswich, and that pursuit will begin against Portsmouth this weekend before they travel to Portman Road on 19 April.

A home clash against Sheffield Wednesday follows before fixtures against Watford at home and Wrexham away.

This isn’t a straightforward end to the campaign, particularly as they have a trip to a direct rival, but the home game against the Owls is a bit of a gift.

Boro don’t have quite as difficult a run-in as Ipswich, particularly as they don’t have as busy as schedule, but there are a couple of banana skins in there as well, so a 7/10 difficulty rating is fair.

Millwall’s run-in difficulty

Millwall begin their final five games of the season with a trip away to relegation-fighting West Brom on 10 April.

This is followed by games against mid-table sides QPR and Stoke City, before a trip to 22nd place Leicester City and a home game against 23rd place Oxford United to end the campaign.

The Lions don’t play a single team inside the top 11, with QPR in 12th being the highest team in the table they face.

But Alex Neil’s side will also be taking on the teams 20th, 22nd and 23rd, and that trio will all have plenty to play for as they fight for their place in the division, which won’t be easy.

This gives Millwall a difficulty rating of 5/10 for their run-in, and that kind of edge might be what tips them ahead of Middlesbrough and Ipswich.