A four-horse race for automatic promotion looks to have been cut down to three following the latest results with Leeds battling away rivals Sheffield United with a 3-1 comeback win while fourth-placed Sunderland succumbed to a shock 1-0 defeat against relegation strugglers Hull.
Elsewhere, Middlesbrough got their play-off push back on track after snapping a five-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory against Stoke, who slipped closer to the bottom three.
Fierce rivals Watford and Luton clashed in the latest edition of the M1 derby with the Hornets coming out comfortable 2-0 winners - potentially spelling the end for the Hatters' hopes of avoiding back-to-back relegations.
Here are the latest talking points from England's second tier:
Promotion race takes an unexpected turn
Up until last weekend, it looked like we were witnessing a four-way race for automatic promotion to the Premier League, but that looks to have been cut down to three now - depending on which way you look at it.
Sunderland were clinging on to hopes of a top-two finish before their match against Hull that they - on paper - should have won comfortably.
The Black Cats were unbeaten at the Stadium of Light in the league going into the game and their opposition were lingering around the relegation zone, meaning Saturday's encounter was shaping up to be a relatively straightforward one for Regis Le Bris' side.
Things didn't quite go to plan, though, as the Tigers snatched a 1-0 win after a horrific mistake from goalkeeper Anthony Patterson, with Sunderland unable to create anything meaningful in attack to hit back after the early error.
Key players Dan Ballard and Enzo Le Fee were also lost to hamstring injuries, which would leave even those with a positive mindset leaning toward a play-off finish for the Black Cats as they now sit eight points off of the top two.
There are, however, 12 more games to be played and the two sides above them Sheffield United and Burnley still have to face each other meaning the door may still be ever so slightly ajar for a top-two finish on Wearside - no matter how unrealistic it may seem, far stranger things have happened in the Championship.
The other way of looking at the promotion race is that league leaders Leeds are now out of it based on the fact they will likely clinch the title, given their current trajectory.
Daniel Farke's side are by far the best in the division and pulled off a superb 3-1 comeback win over Sheffield United on Monday evening after netting three late goals.
While, mathematically, it still looks quite tight at the top, Leeds have shown no sign of slowing down since the start of 2025 and it would take an almighty capitulation for them not to at least achieve second place; the idea of one side catching them is possible, but two seems very unlikely.
That school of thought would then make it a two-way race for second between the Blades and Burnley - or for the optimists out there, perhaps a three-way battle is still on the cards if Sunderland can put together a run of wins.
Blackburn recruit Ismael
Blackburn have confirmed the appointment of Valerien Ismael as their new manager following the departure of John Eustace, with the Frenchman arriving at a club in the midst of a play-off challenge.
Rovers currently sit sixth in the table with 12 games to play and look well-placed to finish in the play-offs if they can hold their nerve, with no fewer than seven teams chasing behind.
Just six points separate the fifth and 13th-placed teams - but more on that a little later.
Ismael arrives at Ewood Park with the task of getting Blackburn back on track following a shock 3-0 defeat at the hands of Swansea last weekend.
Neither club had a permanent manager heading into the fixture and the Swans came out on top in comfortable fashion after goals from Zan Vipotnik, Myles Peart-Harris and Liam Cullen.
Relegation looms for Luton
Luton suffered another poor defeat at the weekend after being beaten 2-0 by arch-rivals Watford to leave the Hatters rooted to the bottom of the table and five points from safety.
Despite playing Premier League football just a year ago, Luton have been one of the Championship's worst teams this season and are rapidly falling toward back-to-back relegations.
Only Sunderland have faced the same fate in the last decade and those effects are still felt in some areas now over six years later.
Luton's latest defeat was perhaps the most damning of the season so far with the players getting turned over in what was meant to be a hotly contested derby between two clubs that despise each other.
What fans got instead was a lacklustre performance from the Hatters, who failed to show up in one of their biggest fixtures on the calendar.
When a team fails to show any sort of fight against their arch-rivals, it can hardly be a surprise that they have slipped so far down the league.
The writing appears to be on the wall for Luton, unless they can mount an unlikely turnaround in the final months of the campaign.
Play-off picture tighter than ever
As alluded to earlier, the play-off race in the Championship is one of the tightest seen at this stage of the season with just six points separating fifth and 13th place.
While third to sixth place will secure a play-off spot, the first two positions seem likely to have already been decided and will go to two of the current top four.
That leaves fifth and sixth place to be fought for by at least nine clubs over the next few weeks.
West Brom and Blackburn currently occupy those positions but are being chased closely by Coventry, Bristol City, Watford, Norwich and Middlesbrough - with Millwall and Sheffield Wednesday not too far behind either, although they would need quite the leap to push into the top six.
At this point in the season, momentum is the key to finishing - and being successful - in the play-offs.
Coventry are the favourites on that basis having won seven of their last eight league games while Bristol City and Norwich are both also exhibiting some solid form.
It can probably be argued that West Brom have the best squad out of all the contenders, though, and under Tony Mowbray, they should be playing an attacking style that brings plenty of goals.
As mentioned earlier, Blackburn are in a bit of limbo after hiring a new manager at such a late stage of the campaign - which makes predicting the fifth and sixth spots incredibly difficult.
One thing is certain, and that is the fact that it will be one of the most exciting play-off races for quite some time.
Piroe hits screamer in Leeds win
Time for our Goal of the Week now, which goes to Leeds striker Joel Piroe - who netted a thunderous effort in their 3-1 win against Sheffield United.
The forward picked up the ball on the edge of the box just moments after his side took a 2-1 lead and wrapped up all three points in style by firing an unstoppable effort into the top corner.
Piroe now has 15 goals for the season, which takes him level with Norwich's Borja Sainz as the Championship's joint-top goalscorer.
Earthy brace saves Bristol City
Bristol City needed a brace from youngster George Earthy to secure all three points in a 2-1 comeback victory against Middlesbrough last Friday.
The West Ham loanee was brought onto the pitch after an hour and needed just 20 minutes to bag twice and turn things around for his side - earning a 9.3 Flashscore player rating in the process.
Take a look at a full team of the best performers from the latest round of fixtures (including Luton 1-1 Plymouth and Preston 1-1 Millwall from last week):
Full results:
Preston 1-1 Millwall (midweek)
Bristol City 2-1 Middlesbrough
Burnley 4-0 Sheffield Wednesday
Stoke 1-3 Middlesbrough (midweek)
