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Championship round-up: Luton hit rock bottom, Eustace makes Derby switch

Luton's Jacob Brown (R) shakes hands with Sunderland's Anthony Patterson
Luton's Jacob Brown (R) shakes hands with Sunderland's Anthony PattersonAe Cosgrove / News Images / Avalon / Profimedia
Another round of Championship action passed during the week with clubs completing their 31st or 32nd fixtures of the campaign as the business end of the season rapidly approaches.

As has become the standard in recent weeks, all four of the promotion contenders picked up important wins to keep the battle for a top-two spot hotly contested.

On top of that, the race for what looks like the final two play-off positions is as tight as it has ever been with just eight points separating fifth and 15th.

That might sound like a fairly hefty gap - but teams often play three games in a week in the Championship which leaves plenty of opportunities for the table to dramatically change.

Don't forget about the relegation battle either, with seven clubs looking at the threat of a possible drop into League One next season.

Flashscore have taken a look at the major talking points from the latest Championship action:

Championship table
Championship tableFlashscore

Plymouth building momentum

Plymouth Argyle looked down and out just a month ago following the departure of Wayne Rooney, but a turbulent few weeks have seen them cut the gap to safety down to just one point.

New coach Miron Muslic has well and truly brought a 'new manager bounce' since arriving with Argyle unbeaten in their last three Championship games - on top of a historic FA Cup giant-killing against Liverpool.

That run includes a 2-2 draw away at Sunderland, a 2-1 win against West Brom and most recently a 5-1 thrashing of play-off dark horses Millwall.

A comical own goal by Joe Bryan opened the scoring before Ryan Hardie netted a brace alongside strikes from Mustapha Bundu and Nikola Katic to seal a statement victory.

The win took Argyle off the foot of the table for the first time in 2025 and gives supporters something to really believe in for the remainder of the campaign.

Plymouth looked dead and buried for a long time before the arrival of Muslic but now have a renewed sense of hope heading into the final quarter of the season - one more win would take them out of the bottom three, depending on the results of those above them.

Another positive for the south coast club is that several teams above them have failed to properly pull away from the drop zone.

Portsmouth, Stoke, Cardiff and Derby are all currently safe by the finest of margins and if Plymouth can build momentum at the right time, the opportunity is there to push above their fellow strugglers.

Luton hit rock bottom

While Plymouth have cause to be optimistic, things are looking bleak for fellow strugglers Luton.

The Hatters sunk to the bottom of the league following a 2-0 loss to Sunderland on Wednesday, a match that saw Matt Bloomfield's side register just one shot on target.

Luton were in the Premier League just a year ago but now look destined for back-to-back relegations if things don't change soon.

Their typical physical style looks to have disappeared completely and been replaced by, in all honesty, nothing.

Having watched their encounter with the Black Cats, Luton's players looked largely devoid of ideas and often quite disinterested in the whole affair - telltale signs of a team that, unless something drastically changes, is only heading downwards.

Luton's recent form
Luton's recent formFlashscore

Ironically, the last side to face back-to-back relegations from the Premier League and Championship was actually Sunderland and the similarities between the two sides are strikingly similar.

A disappointing summer transfer window left the Hatters struggling in the first part of the campaign and while some promising youngsters are breaking into the first team and some solid additions were made in January, it could be too little, too late for Luton.

Bloomfield needs to inject some fresh ideas for his side to put up a proper fight and while the current situation seems dire, just two points are separating the bottom-placed club and Derby in the final safe spot of 21st - a shock escape could still very much be on the cards if they want it enough.

Eustace makes shock switch

Nothing quite sums up the madness of the Championship like the latest reported managerial changes.

Blackburn's John Eustace has guided his side to fifth spot in the table and has them competing comfortably as play-off contenders with just 14 games remaining - with Rovers currently the 'best of the rest' behind the runaway top four.

Why, you may wonder, would he want to jump ship for a new challenge? 

Why again, would that new challenge be Derby County, who are in the same league but 19 points worse off, winless in their last 10 games and only outside the relegation zone on goal difference?

The popular answer online is that he would like to be close to his family in the midlands - although several reports have crept out that Eustace has been struggling with his relationship with Blackburn's unpopular owners for some time.

It wouldn't be the first time that Rovers' manager has left midway through the season for something new after reportedly becoming disenchanted with proceedings at Ewood Park. The same thing happened last season with Jon Dahl Tomasson, who Eustace replaced.

The whole ordeal is unimaginably frustrating for Blackburn supporters with the club well-placed for a play-off challenge after what has on the whole been a successful campaign.

The club now has to reset again and aim to get the best out of the remaining quarter of the season. While it's a cruel twist so late in the term, all is not lost for the former Premier League champions - they picked up a 2-0 win over West Brom on Wednesday despite the absence of Eustace.

Blackburn's latest form
Blackburn's latest formFlashscore

Le Fee nets his first for Sunderland

Enzo Le Fee has taken a huge amount of plaudits since arriving in England and picked up his first Sunderland goal during their 2-0 win over Luton.

The Frenchman received the ball out wide before cutting inside, coming forward and firing a powerful effort into the far corner.

Le Fee's strike showed the quality of a player who has featured in top leagues around Europe - his role in the race for automatic promotion will be exciting to watch.

Gueye shines for Blackburn

We touched on Blackburn's 2-0 win against West Brom briefly a little earlier, but the star of the show was striker Makhtar Gueye.

The forward netted a brace at the Hawthornes with two well-taken strikes that earned him a 9.4 Flashscore rating - the highest of any player from the latest set of fixtures.

Take a look at a full XI of the best performers:

Top XI
Top XIFlashscore

Full results:

Watford 0-4 Leeds

Portsmouth 2-1 Cardiff

Derby 0-0 Oxford

Coventry 1-0 QPR

Norwich 0-1 Preston

Swansea 0-1 Sheffield Wednesday

Sunderland 2-0 Luton

Plymouth 5-1 Millwall

Burnley 2-0 Hull

Bristol City 2-0 Stoke

West Brom 0-2 Blackburn

Sheffield United 3-1 Middlesbrough

Ali Pollock
Ali PollockFlashscore