Stoke having a little more of the ball in these opening exchanges.

Tom Cannon almost gets in behind the defence but can't bring it under control in the windy conditions.

There was a hint of offside there against Norman Bassette but the linesman kept his flag down and Frank Lampard will care not.

A slight concern for Hull within the opening couple of minutes as Joao Pedro appears to be hurt after being caught in a challenge with Swansea defender Harry Darling.

The striker seems to be moving gingerly, but hopefully he can shake it off.

It's a blustery afternoon at Fratton Park and Portsmouth try to make the most of it immediately.

They go back to goalkeeper Nicolas Schmid from kick-off and he launches it from one end of the field to the other, somewhat wind-assisted.

It goes all the way through to opposite number Brad Collins at the other end.

Start your engines.

We're under way in our three early games in the Championship.

Stoke City players will be wearing black armbands today as a mark of respect after club legend George Eastham died yesterday at the age of 88.

The forward made 194 appearances for the Potters and scored the winning goal in 1972 when they beat Chelsea 2-1 in the League Cup final for their only major silverware to date.

Eastham, who went on to have a brief spell as Stoke boss, was also a member of England's 1966 World Cup-winning squad, although he did not feature in the tournament.

Who will be top of the Championship table on Christmas Day? Sheffield United will fancy their chances, knowing a draw at Cardiff today would guarantee that.

But Leeds will be waiting to pounce as they welcome Oxford to Elland Road, while Burnley take on Watford in an important top seven clash.

Sunderland, Blackburn and Middlesbrough will also all be looking to strengthen their positions before West Brom play tomorrow.

No side wants to be bottom at Christmas and the scrap to avoid that tag is a tight one.

It's Hull City who currently sit at the foot of the table but they are just one of five teams who could end the weekend there, depending on results.

Plymouth, Portsmouth, Cardiff and Oxford will also be keen to avoid coal in their stockings.

Sheffield Wednesday make one alteration from the side that started the 3-1 win at Oxford last week. Defender Dominic Iorfa comes back into the starting XI and forward Jamal Lowe drops to the bench.

BBC Radio Sheffield's sports editor Rob Staton reports that Liam Palmer, Michael Ihiekwe, Pol Valentin, Ben Hamer are all out of the squad because of illness.

Image source, BBC Sport

Stoke City boss Narcis Pelach makes three changes from the team that grabbed a 2-2 draw against Cardiff last week. Michael Rose, Wouter Burger and Junior Tchamadeu are all back in. Influential attacking midfielder Million Manhoef has been ruled out for eight weeks.

Image source, BBC Sport

Image source, BBC Sport

John Mousinho makes two changes to the Portsmouth side that was humbled 4-0 at Derby last time out.

Ryley Towler and Zak Swanson come in for Terry Devlin and Tom McIntyre who both drop to the bench.

Coventry boss Frank Lampard sticks with exactly the same starting XI that won 2-1 at Hull City.

Image source, BBC Sport

Hull City and Swansea City both make two changes as they look to recover from defeats last weekend.

Alfie Jones comes in for Sean McLoughlin in the Tigers defence, while Gustavo Puerta is preferred to Kasey Palmer in midfield.

Image source, BBC Sport

As for the visitors, Eom Ji-Sung is in for Ronald on the left wing, and Swansea head coach Luke Williams also elects to bring Jay Fulton into midfield, in place of Goncalo Franco.

Image source, BBC Sport

Image source, Rex Features

Sheffield Wednesday's inconsistencies must be as annoying as they are baffling to fans.

The Owls have the fifth best record away from home in the division, with five wins from their 10 games on the road.

At home? Only four teams have picked up fewer points.

Danny Rohl's men will look to pick up a fourth home success of the campaign to go into Christmas within striking distance of the top six.

Visitors Stoke are winless in seven and going nowhere fast just now.

Narcis Pelach's men have certainly kept keeper Viktor Johansson busy this campaign, they've allowed their opponents 345 shots at goal and only Plymouth and Luton have faced more shots on target.

Image source, Rex Features

The Championship is tough to predict at the best of times, but kudos to anyone who can call this one.

Just when Portsmouth had hit a decent run of form by going four games unbeaten (W2 D2), they slumped to a 4-0 defeat at Derby last weekend.

But Pompey are back at Fratton Park today, where they've lost just once in their previous six (W2 D3) and with a game or two in hand on the other teams around them near the bottom, a win today could be a major boost and perfect early Christmas gift.

Coventry recovered from their first defeat under Frank Lampard at West Brom 10 days ago with a 2-1 win over Hull City last time out.

It means the Sky Blues have won two, drawn one and lost one since Lampard took charge.

Another victory today would put real daylight between Coventry and the bottom three and maybe even give hope to a new year's resolution to fight for the play-offs...

Hull City head coach Ruben Selles is in a spot of bother.

His side haven't won any of their past 13 Championship games, in what is their worst run since 2002.

Today, they host a Swansea City side, who showed both their attacking prowess and attacking frailties in last weekend's home defeat by Sunderland.

The Swans have scored at least two goals in five out of their last six league games, but haven't kept a clean sheet in any of their last seven.

Curiously, they are also the only side in the division that is yet to score a headed goal, whereas Hull have conceded the highest number of them. Alas, you can predict exactly what will happen today.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, PA Media

Luton produced a terrific late comeback to take all three points in the first Championship game of the weekend last night.

The Hatters looked to be falling to defeat as Kayden Jackson's header meant they trailed Derby going into the final two minutes.

However, Tom Holmes deflected a shot from team-mate Pelly Ruddock-Mpanzu in to level and then Carlton Morris hammered in a winner in time added on to spark pandemonium at Kenilworth Road and ease some of the pressure on gaffer Rob Edwards.

The victory moved the Hatters above the Rams and up to 14th in the table.

• Hull City v Swansea City (12:30 GMT)
• Portsmouth v Coventry City (12:30 GMT)
• Sheffield Wednesday v Stoke City (12:30 GMT)
• Burnley v Watford
• Cardiff City v Sheffield United
• Leeds United v Oxford United
• Millwall v Blackburn Rovers
• Plymouth Argyle v Middlesbrough
• Queens Park Rangers v Preston North End
• Sunderland v Norwich City

Image source, Rex Features

A wonderful Christmas time?

It's just four days until the festivities and today will have a big say on just how festive many clubs are feeling come the 25th.

We've got 10 second tier games for you this afternoon, starting with three that get under way in half an hour's time.

Onwards!