The Championship is set to return with a vengeance today as twenty two teams go head to head, before Newcastle and Sheffield Wednesday do battle on Wednesday night.
With the league table still taking shape, leaders Coventry will be hoping to cement their place at the top when they travel to Doncaster Rovers. Coventry started the season as one of the favourites to go down but will be hopeful of a third consecutive victory, against a Doncaster side yet to win. Sky Blues striker Freddie Eastwood is unavailable due to illness but Martin Cranie, Clinton Morrison and Leon Best should all shake off knocks in time to play.
Also flying high are Sheffield United and Leicester City who have both picked up four points from their two matches and now face each other at Bramall Lane. United have yet to concede a league goal and with Leicester striker Matty Fryatt a doubt, after picking up an ankle injury on Saturday, Kevin Blackwell’s men will be hopeful of another clean sheet.
Sheffield United and Leicester have both played in the Premiership in recent years and now another former Premier League side, Middlesbrough, are getting a taste of the Championship. Boro have started promisingly with a win and a draw but will find out what life in the football league is all about tonight, when they travel to League One play-off winners, Scunthorpe. Gareth Southgate’s men will be favourites to win the match but wont have things all their own way against a Scunthorpe side that picked up an impressive three points against Derby County last time out.
Finally, if you’re on the lookout for fireworks then Portman Road is the only place to be as Roy Keane’s Ipswich take on Neil Warnock’s Crystal Palace. The two managers are amongst the most volatile in English football and neither will be in a good mood at present. Roy Keane has seen his promotion chasers pick up just one point from their first two games and is sure to have his men fired up but that could be no match for the disgruntled Londoners. Palace were the subject of an abysmal refereeing decision at the weekend when the man in black failed to spot the ball had gone into the net (before hitting a stanchion and bouncing out). Warnock’s team went on to lose the game to a last minute goal, leaving an already seething manager apoplectic with rage.
By Josh Allen
