The Championship – Week in focus 29/1/07-4/2/07

All the action from last week.

Concerning matches here are the week`s results:

22 teams participated in midweek matches last week, here are Tuesday`s results.

Barnsley 2-0 QPR
Birmingham 1-3 Southend
Colchester 1-0 Preston
Coventry 1-0 Luton
Derby 1-0 Burnley
Hull City 1-2 Leeds
Norwich 0-1 Wolves
Stoke 0-0 Ipswich
Sunderland 0-0 C Palace

Barnsley secured 3 useful points with victory over relegation rivals QPR. Southend, another relegation threatened team recorded a shock 3-1 victory away at promotion hopefuls Birmingham. In a promotion fight, Colchester kept up their good home form with a 1-0 win over PNE. Coventry beat Luton 1-0 in the mid table battle. Derby recorded another 1-0 victory this time against Burnley, meaning they opened up a big lead at the top of the table. Leeds got a rare victory whilst Norwich surprisingly lost at Carrow Road. The last two fixtures were both 0-0 draws.

There were two games on Wednesday night, here are the results:

Southampton 2-1 Sheff Wed
West Brom 2-1 Plymouth

Both promotion hopefuls, West Brom and Southampton both recorded valuable wins, to close the gap on Birmingham and Preston who both lost.

On Friday there was one game, where Cardiff managed to continue their winning run.

Cardiff 2-0 Barnsley

Here are Saturday`s results:

C Palace 2-0 Ipswich
Colchester 1-1 Birmingham
Hull City 0-1 West Brom
Leicester 1-1 Luton
Norwich 2-1 Leeds
QPR 3-1 Burnley
Sheff Wed 1-3 Preston
Southampton 0-1 Derby
Stoke 1-1 Southend
Sunderland 2-0 Coventry
Wolves 2-2 Plymouth

Palace won the mid table clash over Ipswich at Selhurst Park. Colchester held Birmingham to continue Brum`s bad run and prolong Colchester`s good home form. West Brom recorded a rare away win and continued to push for promotion. Leeds lost at Carrow Road, Burnley continue to slide down the table. Preston won an exciting game at Hillsborough after conceding early on. Derby won the top of table clash over Southampton, whilst Southend are starting to hit form with another point. Sunderland, Plymouth and Wolves all continue to mount promotion charges.

Here is the current table:

1. Derby County 62
2. Preston 56
3. West Brom 55
4. Birmingham 54
5. Southampton 52
6. Cardiff 52
7. Sunderland 50
8. Stoke 49
9. Colchester 48
10. Wolves 47
11. Plymouth 43
12. C Palace 42
13. Sheff Wed 40
14. Ipswich 39
15. Burnley 38
16. Norwich 37
17. Coventry 37
18. Leicester City 34
19. QPR 33
20. Luton 32
21. Barnsley 32
22. Hull 31
23. Southend 28
24. Leeds United 27

The transfer window closed on Wednesday and here are the major signings and departures.
Upson from Birmingham to West Ham – £6`000`000
Larsson from Arsenal to Birmingham – £1`000`000
Halford from Colchester to Reading – £2`500`000