The 7 Championship play-off contenders who all seek Premier League promotion

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With three weeks to go, the Championship remains as intense and dramatic as it ever was. With as little as four matches to go for most teams, none of the promotion spots have been secured and only one side has at least a play-off spot guaranteed too but even then Coventry City are the champions-elect so that becomes irrelevant.

With 12 points separating seven teams under Frank Lampard's side, the stage is set for an all-out dogfight with four clubs in the mix for the automatic promotion spot and another three looking to get the last remaining play-off spot it will make for a dramatic few weeks in the Championship.

Ipswich Town and Southampton will both be looking to secure promotion at the first time of asking while Millwall, who have not been a top-tier club in 36 years and Middlesbrough will be looking to finally get promotion again after missing out a number of times in recent years. And yet we have not even manage to point out Hull City, Derby County or Wrexham.

Here is the lowdown ahead of another dramatic climax in the Championship season:

Not exactly where they want to be but after their defeat away to Portsmouth midweek, Ipswich Town now find themselves pulled closer and closer into the melee that is this dogfight for a play-off spot. Sitting on 75 points they now find themselves just three points ahead of Middlesbrough and seven from Hull City.

To add to this, they welcome Middlesbrough to Portman Road before a trip to Southampton in their penultimate match and what is their game-in-hand too. Two huge six-pointers hold a lot to ensure Kieran McKenna's side book a place in the Premier League once more and pull themselves away from the play-off fight by securing the only other automatic promotion after champion-elect Coventry City.

A point in this run will be enough to guarantee a spot in the play-offs but they will want more to avoid it and secure automatic promotion.

The outsiders with a very good chance to secure their first top-flight season since 1990 as they sit in third place and just two points from a chance on securing automatic promotion. They have arguably one of the easiest runs going into the business-end of the season with mid-table QPR, lower-table Stoke City and relegation-threatened sides Leicester City and Oxford United to wrap up their 2025/26 season.

With the Tractor Boys facing two huge six-pointers and the threat of dropping even more points after dropping points at the Den, Portsmouth and Stoke too, there is a chance Millwall may not need the play-offs.

From relegation-threatened to promotion-hopefuls. From potentially back-to-back relegations to potentially the newest yo-yo club. It is safe to say Southampton's season has been one rollercoaster ride and it is not over yet. The Saints' season has been saved since the appointment of Tonda Eckert who has picked up just five defeats in 33 matches in all competitions so far.

The South Coast club struggled with any momentum under Will Still as the club were once flirting around the relegation spots before he was dismissed with the club struggling to even establish themselves as mid-table mediocrity. Now the club are the most in-form team across the whole of Europe with a 15-match unbeaten run in the Championship including a five-match winning streak going into their weekend clash with Swansea City.

With an FA Cup semi-final appearance to boot, Southampton have certainly turned things around and a play-off spot would definitely finish off a great end to the season under Eckert.

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Sitting on 72 points, equal with Southampton and a point behind Millwall, Middlesbrough have a great chance of securing an automatic promotion spot too but their form will no doubt be raising alarm bells. After back-to-back solid wins away to Birmingham City and QPR, Boro have failed to win their last six matches including defeats to Charlton Athletic, Millwall and Portsmouth.

With four matches to go and an eight-point cushion between them and Wrexham, who sit just outside the play-off spots at the time of writing this, they need a maximum two wins to secure their play-off hopes or they will be looking intently at other results going their own way.

A huge six-pointer against Ipswich Town await them on Sunday before home matches against League One-bound Sheffield Wednesday and Watford before a trip to Wrexham looking to their fairytale story going.

Sitting on the last play-off spot right now, Hull City have a favourable run of matches going into the final leg of the season. They have Birmingham, Leicester, Charlton and Norwich to worry about but have only four points between themselves and Wrexham at the moment.

It is not enough to give them some breathing space having picked up just one win in their last five and with both clubs having next to like-for-like goal difference it could go down to the wire of how big the wins will be, if they pick up any. Maintaining the gap will be needed so results against any of the relegation-threatened sides would be ideal on-paper before they welcome Norwich City to the MKM Stadium for the final match of the regular domestic season.

The Hollywood story continues with Wrexham having an outside chance of reaching the play-offs and performing an elusive back-to-back-to-back-to-back promotion streak going from non-league National League to the Premier League in what can only be described as something Jay Cartwright would do on Football Manager.

They sit four points from the play-off spots behind Hull City after suffering back-to-back defeats which could come back to bite them - especially the 5-1 defeat at home to Southampton which could well change course for their season. They face Stoke City and Oxford United before they face Frank Lampard's Coventry and welcome Middlesbrough to the Racecourse Ground which will be a tricky end to the season for them. They will need to secure back-to-back wins before that if they are to have any momentum going into the last two matches of the season.

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A nine-point gap means Derby County's chance are very slim but not nil at this point as the Rams look to maintain their form if they have a chance of snatching a play-off spot. Going into their last four matches having picked up three from their last five outings they actually have the best form behind Southampton which will make the likes of Hull City sweat a little bit longer.

Oxford United await them this weekend before trips to Norwich City and QPR for John Eustace's side with Sheffield United completing their final four. As mentioned, a nine-point swing needs to happen so for all intents and purposes, they will need to win all four matches to hold any hope of a play-off spot and a chance to return to the Premier League in almost 20 years.

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