Image source, Rex Features

Ruben Selles is urging Hull’s fans to play a key role tonight in their vital clash with relegation rivals Plymouth at the MKM Stadium.

The Tigers have won fewer points at home this season than any other Championship side, recording only two wins – the last of which came just before Christmas, when they overcame Swansea 2-1.

“They (Plymouth) will come trying to get their first victory of the season away from home, as we will try to get a victory in front of our fans,” Selles told BBC Radio Humberside, external.

“We have not done that in a couple of months. It would be good for us to get one and then move forward.

“We need a lot of support from our fans. We want to create an environment where people feel really uncomfortable to come and play in our stadium.”

Image source, Rex Features

It is now 1090 minutes since Burnley conceded a league goal - for the record Kwadwo Baah's strike for Watford in a 2-1 defeat at Turf Moor is the last time James Trafford was beaten in the Championship.

That's a run of 12 successive clean sheets - bettered only by Manchester United in the 2008/09 campaign when they went 14 games without conceding.

With 25 shut-outs from their 34 Championship matches Scott Parker's side have conceded just nine goals but for all that they are 'only' third in the table and five points shy of second-placed Sheffield United. It means they have to keep winning.

Cardiff are sitting five points clear of the relegation zone but six games unbeaten at home is keeping their heads above water, in fact you have to go back five years for when they had a better run.

But, their record against the top four sides in the Championship is poor - five played, five lost, 18 goals conceded and nine scored.

For all that, boss Omer Riza is optimistic his side can upset the odds.

"Burnley is a tough game against a side who don't concede many goals, but we go into it with a lot of confidence," he said

"If we are solid and focused and don't concede goals, we have proven we have the potential to score goals – and that's what we are looking to do."

That's all very well but maybe easier to say than do...

Image source, Rex Features

If Bristol City are going to gatecrash the top six, they’ll probably need to start picking up a few more wins away from Ashton Gate.

City haven’t managed to claim three points on the road since early November, when they triumphed 2-0 at Norwich – which means an awful lot of miles clocked up in the interim for little reward.

However, Liam Manning’s men have been in good nick overall, taking seven points from their last three games to climb to ninth place and victory at The Den would take them level with West Brom, who occupy the final play-off spot.

Millwall, three places and four points behind their visitors, won’t have given up hope of snatching a play-off spot themselves after seeing another potential route to Wembley disappear in Saturday’s feisty FA Cup fifth round defeat to Crystal Palace.

The Lions have tasted defeat just once in their last eight Championship outings, a startling 5-1 hammering at the hands of Plymouth, but Josh Coburn’s last-minute winner at Derby 10 days ago seemed to have them back on track.

Whatever happens tonight, it’ll have to be something spectacular to top the sides’ earlier meeting this season, a see-saw seven-goal encounter at Ashton Gate that was eventually settled by Scott Twine’s strike two minutes from time.

Image source, Rex Features

Without an FA Cup quarter-final to look forward to there might not be much for Preston fans to talk about right now.

Without the recent sacking of their head coach their might not be much for Swansea supporters to find interesting right now.

Don't let 15th v 16th fool you into thinking these are teams winding down their campaigns.

A first appearance in the last eight of the FA Cup since 1966 for Preston and a home tie with Aston Villa has got tongues wagging in Lancashire but don't let head coach Paul Heckingbottom hear you talking about it.

"Everyone's excited about Villa, I'm not, I'm thinking about Swansea and everyone should be. People walking around talking about Villa tickets - let's beat Swansea, that's it," he told BBC Radio Lancashire

Ten games unbeaten at home has got the Lilywhites on a bit of a roll but following the sacking of boss Luke Williams Swansea ran out 3-0 winners over Blackburn and are seeking back-to-back victories for the first time since the final two games of last season.

The Swans are sitting nine points clear of the relegation zone but don't let interim head coach Alan Sheehan catch anyone thinking about coasting to the end of the season.

"You can't take your foot off the pedal because that distance will close again if you think you have done everything in one game," Swansea's caretaker boss said.

"One game is good, two games is better, three games etcetera. That's what you want to build a winning team."

It's a mid-table meeting but just don't tell Paul or Alan...

Image source, Getty Images

Plymouth have proved themselves more than capable against Premier League opposition – now, to tweak a cliché, can they do it on a chilly (well, bracing perhaps) Tuesday night in Hull?

Miron Muslic’s Argyle side won plenty of admiration for their FA Cup heroics against Brentford and Liverpool, as well as giving Manchester City a scare before eventually going down 3-1 in Saturday’s fifth round tie.

But the Green Army would surely trade some of that admiration for league points as they battle to escape the drop – ideally three of them on the road tonight against relegation rivals Hull.

Problem there, of course, is that Plymouth have yet to win on their travels all season and remain the only team in the top four divisions without an away victory.

But if they’re to shed that unwanted record, the MKM Stadium looks a likely venue to do so – because Hull have won only twice on their own turf all season, with their last five home games yielding a meagre two points.

The Tigers’ away performances are keeping them afloat for now, having stunned both Sheffield United and Sunderland in recent weeks. Yet after their 1-0 reverse at Cardiff last weekend, they surely can’t afford to give up three more points to a relegation rival.

Image source, Rex Features

With the evenings getting longer, the Championship stakes are getting higher – at both ends of the table.

It’s the scrap to cling onto second-tier status that catches the eye tonight, with something resembling the proverbial six-pointer as second bottom Plymouth Argyle travel to Hull City, perched just above the relegation zone.

Both will also be keen to see 20th-placed Cardiff City drop points in their home clash against Burnley – the Clarets desperate for a victory that would keep Leeds and Sheffield United within their sights in the race for automatic promotion.

The tussle for play-off places is predictably congested, with Millwall and Bristol City, who meet at The Den, both still in the running – and three points for the Robins would take them level with sixth-placed West Brom.

Preston North End, the only Championship side still left in the FA Cup, start the night in 15th place as they host Swansea City, two points and one place below them.

Mid-table comfort beckoning for both, you’d think… but in this division, as we’ve seen so often, anything is possible!

Image source, Rex Features

Cardiff City v Burnley

Hull City v Plymouth Argyle

Millwall v Bristol City

Preston North End v Swansea City

Image source, PA Media

Good evening and welcome to all fans of cold sweats, heart palpitations and stress aka the Championship.

We've got issues surrounding automatic promotion, play-offs and the relegation dogfight to deal with tonight.

So, let's not waste any more time and get on with it...