A good early save from Boro keeper Mark Travers. Ebou Adams tries his luck from range but the goalkeeper spectacularly pushes behind strongly.

Fast start from the Potters at the Bet365 and only a vital block from Matty Pollock prevents birthday boy Ali Al-Hamadi from testing Hornets keeper Egil Selvik in the opening seconds.

Four more huge games are getting under way up and down the country.

The Championship table could look very different in a couple of hours from now, let's see what these eight clubs have in store for us...

Image source, Rex Features

Stoke welcome Watford to the Bet365 this afternoon with plenty at stake for both sides, with a dozen games remaining in the Championship season.

Tuesday's 3-1 home defeat to Middlesbrough was a third loss in four matches for the Potters, who lie 20th, five points clear of the relegation zone.

Mark Robins says a visit from former SAS Warrant Officer Melvyn Downes on Thursday has provided some timely inspiration to his Potters squad.

Stoke-born City fan Downes served 24 years in the British Army, the majority with the Special Air Service, and has gone on to train special forces around the world as well as appearing on reality TV series SAS: Who Dares Wins.

After a run of one point from five games, the Hornets have picked-up back-to-back wins and sit 10th, only five points behind Coventry in fifth, having played a game fewer.

Watford have won five of their past seven league games against Stoke City (D1 L1), scoring 2+ goals in each of those victories.

Second-placed Sheffield United will aim to get back on track as they visit QPR this afternoon.

The Blades were stunned by a Leeds comeback at Bramall Lane on Monday night but Leeds' 1-1 draw against West Brom means they could close the gap back to three points this afternoon.

"We've got to go again," boss Chris Wilder told BBC Radio Sheffield. "Nothing's been decided. We have to stay humble and work our way back into a performance and result (at QPR).

"Our reaction to disappointment has been outstanding all season. We've 12 games to go, we'll dust ourselves down and go again. There's a lot of points to be won."

Though they begin the game in 14th, Rangers are within nine points of fifth-placed Coventry, with a game in hand, and have taken 21 points from a possible 24 infront of their own fans since early December.

The Blades have lost eight of their past nine away league games against sides from London, though that sole victory did come on their last visit to the capital with a 1-0 win over Millwall.

Image source, Getty Images

Derby have spent 2025 doing three things: losing, not scoring and watching their relegation rivals pull away from the bottom three.

Portsmouth, Oxford, Cardiff and Stoke were all below the Rams at the start of the year but all have pulled out at least five points on the bottom three.

In the meantime, Derby have scored just four goals – two coming in the same game on New Year's Day – and picked up two points. They sit four points adrift in 23rd.

The last time they had a run this bad was in their infamous lowest Premier League point tally season in 2007 and 2008 – although they have some way to overtake the 36 winless games at that nadir.

Middlesbrough have had their own annus horribilis as five losses in a row all but killed off their playoff dreams.

A 3-1 victory over Stoke on Tuesday ended that run which Michael Carrick admitted: “Certainly on the inside, it's a nicer feeling."

Image source, Getty Images

A match-up which could pretty much make Portsmouth feel safe, and give Luton another boot towards back-to-back relegations – but one thing both teams have in common is injuries.

Pompey have won three in a row to flesh out a nine-point gap to the relegation places but centre-backs Rob Atkinson and Hayden Matthews limped off against QPR to make it nine missing for the trip to Kenilworth Road.

The Hatters, who have seven doubts of their own, are rock bottom of the Championship, with three points in their last eight league outings and a goal difference that means they are effectively six points from safety.

Anything less than three points today will mean they are on their longest winless run in the Football League since a 13-match stint between January and March 2008.

Carlton Morris (above) issued a rallying cry after a derby defeat to Watford last week: "We're in a difficult moment, there's no disputing that, but it's not how many times you get beaten down, it's how you get up and react as a football club and as a human being."

Don't go anywhere as we've got four more Championship games on the cards this afternoon so let's turn our attention to what is still in store.

Kick-off coming again in just 12 minutes...

Oxford's defeat by Coventry means there is no change at the bottom of the table, as the U's stay 18th, but with Stoke among those to play very shortly in our 15:00 GMT games, the gap to the bottom three could close further later this afternoon.

Leeds' draw with West Brom means they miss the chance to go eight points clear at the top and instead hold a six-point buffer over Sheffield United.

Coventry meanwhile move up to fifth thanks to that goal-frenzied win against Oxford at the Kassam Stadium, a point clear of West Brom.

Norwich move a place from 10th to ninth, while Blackburn drop down to seventh and out of the top six despite that late equaliser.

Andy Bayes
Reporter, BBC Radio Lancashire

A draw is treated like a victory for Blackburn Rovers.

The stoppage time had more about it than the rest of the game!

Kevin Gallacher
Former Blackburn striker on BBC Radio Lancashire

It was a game that went in all different kind of directions.

The goalkeepers weren't really asked to much, that must be the frustrating thing for both managers.

Blackburn had a mountain to climb, the timing of the goal shows the energy levels of the subsitution.

Getting that draw feels more like a win because that's the way the team performed.

Phew... and breathe... time to get some reaction before we look ahead to our 15:00 GMT games...

Aidy White
Former Leeds United full-back on BBC Radio Leeds

We can't go and get a last minute winner every game. Today has been frustrating but not every game will go our way.

We've got to take the positives out of it, we've got another point which will help us with where we want to go.

A lovely touch from Frank Lampard as he heads over to the very happy Coventry fans on the far side.

The Cov boss stops for a selfie with a young member of the ground staff.

What a grandstand finish.

Andi Weimann ghosts in to snatch a point for 10-man Rovers in the 97th minute, having fallen behind to Ante Crnac's opener in the 90th minute.

Valerien Ismael's reign at Ewood Park begins with a dramatic point which might just feel like a win.

The Canaries had the better of the chances but it was only after Rovers sub Emmanuel Dennis saw red for a second challenge on Ben Chrisene that the Croatian, a first-half sub for Lewis Dobbin, put them ahead.

Rovers might have lost Dominic Hyam to a first-half red card too, had his elbow on Angus Gunn been spotted, and there was more than a hint of offside about the leveller, but it's as you were in the play-off race.

Coventry started the second half with a one-goal lead, and they ended it with a one-goal lead.

Inside those 45 minutes was the Championship at its very crazy best. Cov twice threw away a lead and missed a penalty but ended up on top, with Tatsuhiro Sakamoto bagging a wonderful winner.

The Sky Blues make it eight wins in nine Championship matches to sail into the play-off places.

Oliver Dovin falls on the ball after some ping-pong in the Coventry box. That might be the moment Cov secure the three points.

David Fox
Former Norwich City midfielder on BBC Radio Norfolk

To come here and pick up a 1-0 result would put out a real statement.

If we can start nicking some of these results away from home it will put us in a great position towards the business end of the season.