It's been an excellent start to the season for Michael O'Neill's Stoke.

The Potters have lost just two of their opening 11 games and have picked up seven points from the last nine available.

Sheffield United are still adjusting to life back in the second tier after their two-year spell in the Premier League.

The Blades have lost their past two games and boss Slavis Jokanovic, twice a promotion-winner from this league, knows they will have to start picking up results quickly if they're to get back on track.

Image source, Getty Images

Nottingham Forest are looking to extend their unbeaten run to five matches when they host Blackpool at the City Ground.

Forest looked set for an extended spell in the relegation zone this time last month.

But four matches later, three of them under new head coach Steve Cooper, the East Midlands outfit sit in 17th, having won three and drawn one of their past four fixtures.

Blackpool are also a side in form with four wins from their last six and could themselves go five matches unbeaten if they avoid defeat against the Tricky Trees.

Plenty of tributes have been left outside Deepdale to remember former owner Trevor Hemmings who died at the age of 86 earlier this week.

Home and away fans are all being charged £5 to watch the game with proceeds going to charities supported by Mr Hemmings.

Image source, PA Media

Four wins in their past five games have put Reading back on a more even keel after a rocky start to life in the 2021-22 campaign.

Veljko Paunovic has the cloud of uncertainty still dangling over his side though with a potential points deduction on the horizon but on the field, there have been some impressive wins both at home and on the road of late.

Barnsley visit Berkshire this afternoon in a much more immediate state of peril as they sit third-from-bottom.

Markus Schopp is without a win in nine gamesand just the one victory to show for all season so far.

Not the time then when you want to be facing a club you have failed to beat on your past eight encounters stretching back to March 2014.

Image source, Rex Features

Two sides who have struggled to truly get going so far this season go head-to-head at the Riverside.

Middlesbrough would've hoped to have recorded more than three wins from 11 while Peterborough might be thinking of several missed opportunities to bank crucial points early on in their return to the Championship.

Boro will be wary of Posh's threat having lost to the two other newly-promoted sides already this season, 2-1 at home to Blackpool and 2-0 away at Hull City.

Darren Ferguson will be absent from the dugout this afternoon for the visitors as he serves a one-match touchline ban for swearing at a match official.

Image source, Getty Images

Football was well and truly put into perspective this week for joint-leaders Bournemouth following the news their midfielder David Brooks has been diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The Wales international has been among the Cherries' key performers so far this campaign and manager Scott Parker backed his player to "come out fighting" following his prognosis.

His team-mates will hope they can show their resolve at Ashton Gate this afternoon in a bid to extend their unbeaten start to the season and keep the other promotion contenders at bay.

Bristol City meanwhile will be hoping to keep themselves on the periphery of the top six.

Full slate of 12 games in League Two today, all of them kicking off at 15:00 BST:

• Bradford City v Bristol Rovers
• Carlisle United v Tranmere Rovers
• Colchester United v Harrogate Town
• Crawley Town v Sutton United
• Exeter City v Newport County
• Leyton Orient v Walsall
• Northampton Town v Mansfield Town
• Oldham Athletic v Stevenage
• Port Vale v Barrow
• Salford City v Hartlepool United
• Scunthorpe United v Forest Green Rovers
• Swindon Town v Rochdale

Burton and Morecambe started the third tier action last night with a 3-2 victory for the Brewers.

Here are the remaining 11 games in League One, with all of them kicking off at 15:00 BST:

• AFC Wimbledon v Sheffield Wednesday
• Bolton Wanderers v Wigan Athletic
• Cambridge United v Ipswich Town
• Cheltenham Town v Accrington Stanley
• Doncaster Rovers v Wycombe Wanderers
• Fleetwood Town v Crewe Alexandra
• Gillingham v Sunderland
• Lincoln City v Charlton Athletic
• Oxford United v Plymouth Argyle
• Rotherham United v Portsmouth
• Shrewsbury Town v Milton Keynes Dons

Here's a reminder of the nine games kicking off in the Championship at 15:00 BST:

• Blackburn Rovers v Coventry City
• Bristol City v AFC Bournemouth
• Huddersfield Town v Hull City
• Middlesbrough v Peterborough United
• Millwall v Luton Town
• Nottingham Forest v Blackpool
• Preston North End v Derby County
• Reading v Barnsley
• Sheffield United v Stoke City

Final Score

Image source, BBC Sport

Time to sit back and settle in to follow all the afternoon's action and hear all the goals as they go in from reporters around the grounds on Final Score.

Jason Mohammad is joined in the studio this afternoon by Martin Keown and Leon Osman and you can click or tap the play icon at the top of the page to join them.

Cheers Ian, Fulham once again laying down their credentials for promotion in some style to get us all started for the afternoon.

There's plenty more to come from three divisions in under half an hour's time so let's give you all the rundown of what to look out for.

Now the action at Craven Cottage is wrapped up I will pass you over to Adam Williams for all the build-up to the 15:00 BST action throughout the leagues.

Fulham go back up to third with a convincing victory over their west London rivals.

Aleksandar Mitrovic scored twice to take his total for the season to 12.

Despite the scoreline, QPR battled well for much of the game and levelled through sub Lyndon Dykes' well-taken goal but they remain without a win against the Whites since December 2012.

Fulham have not taken their foot off the pedal here.

QPR just want the referee to blow his whistle.

Should be four!

Moses Odubajo gets himself in a right muddle deep in the right-back position and Neeskens Kebano is left to come in unchallenged and shoot at goal but his shot is too close to Seny Dieng in the R's goal.

QPR still looking for a way back into this one.

They have played some pretty decent stuff today in fairness to them but they've just come up against a side who have been ruthless with their chances.

I was just going to say that it felt harsh on QPR when they fell 2-1 behind and then they fell 3-1 behind.

They've shown some good stuff in this game but they've been totally undone by three clinical finishes from the home side.

Fulham make their last change of the day.

Wales international Harry Wilson is off and England international Nathaniel Chalobah is on.