Southampton are aiming to maintain their five-point lead over West Ham, while Cardiff and Middlesbrough look to keep pace with the top two.
Saints looking to march ahead of Hammers, Bluebirds and Boro
Championship leaders Southampton are aiming to maintain their five-point advantage over West Ham, while Cardiff and Middlesbrough look to keep pace with the top two.
Southampton boss Nigel Adkins is not expecting his high-flying side to have an easy ride when they travel to third-bottom
Bristol City on Saturday.
Saints are pushing for a second straight promotion to book a Premier League return, but face a home side looking to transform their season under new manager Derek McInnes.
Whatever happens at Ashton Gate the visitors will remain top of the pile, but
West Ham could narrow the gap with a positive result against
Derby County at Upton Park.
Hammers chief Sam Allardyce may stay faithful to a team which has won four and drawn one in their last five games, while Derby should hand a debut to new striker Tamas Priskin as they look to arrest an alarming slide of three straight defeats.
Cardiff City moved up to third with a midweek draw at lowly Coventry and will maintain the pressure on West Ham if they manage to beat visitors
Nottingham Forest.
Goals are always guaranteed where
Peterborough are concerned - with Darren Ferguson's men having scored 33 goals, as well as leaking 30, in their 17 games. But Tony Mowbray's
Middlesbrough will be aiming to keep a clean sheet and nick any sort of away win to maintain their grip on fourth.
Yorkshire rivals
Leeds United return to Elland Road for the first time since their 5-0 horror defeat to Blackpool when
Barnsley make the short trip up the M1.
Doncaster Rovers could have recent signings Habib Beye and Marc-Antoine Fortune on show as they aim to haul themselves off the bottom against
Watford at the Keepmoat Stadium.
Second-bottom
Coventry are looking to build on an encouraging midweek point against play-off hopefuls Cardiff when they travel to a
Brighton side who have won just one of their last 11 games.
Nick Barmby is bidding for a second straight win since taking the
Hull reins. The Tigers welcome lowly
Burnley to the KC Stadium, with Eddie Howe's men still reeling from conceding last-minute winners in each of their last two outings.
Birmingham, pushing to reach the top six and with games in hand at this stage, should have newly-appointed assistant manager Colin Calderwood in the dugout for the trip to seventh-placed
Blackpool.
Bragging rights are at stake when
Millwall travel through South London looking for their second successive win at rivals
Crystal Palace.
It's a battle of the new bosses when
Portsmouth host big-spending
Leicester at Fratton Park. Pompey's Michael Appleton is targeting a maiden win after opening his reign with defeat at Watford, while Nigel Pearson aims to build on his winning Foxes return.
The weekend's programme is completed by the mid-table clash between out-of-form
Ipswich, who have suffered four straight defeats, and
Reading.
