Blackburn have started brightly. Reda Khadra has been scurrying about down the right with menace, while Blackburn have Ben Brereton Diaz back tonight after he put his international travels behind him.

He's been been equally busy but no real chances yet.

Boro, no doubt still on a high from that FA Cup win at Old Trafford have started quickly here.

Marcus Tavernier picks out Matt Crooks in a dangerous position but Rob Dickie is there to get in a crucial block.

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Steve Bruce the right man for West Brom Baggies fans?

Thumbs up for yes, thumbs down for no...

Early chance for the home side, as Liverpool loanee Nat Phillips meets a swinging free-kick but glances his header just wide.

Bournemouth are desperate to put in a good display after last weekend's cup howler.

We've prayed to the goal gods, and got our refreshments.

Now, we're up and running. Off we go.

Nigel Pearson has been doing it tough this season. Bout of Covid and now this. Misses tonight as he undergoes a routine medical procedure.

Hope it all goes well for the big man.

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QPR entertain Middlesbrough in another promotion hopefuls shoot-out at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium.

Ryan Lowe's Preston North End haven't given up on promotion yet but they'll have to tackle a Huddersfield side in the top six if they're to maintain that progress.

East meets West tonight as Cardiff host Peterborough over the Severn, while on the opposite side of the river, Bristol City welcome Reading.

It's right back to where it all began for West Bromwich Albion boss Steve Bruce tonight as he takes charge of his first Baggies game - and the 1001st of his managerial career - back on the ground where he took charge of his very first game as the gaffer 23 and a half years ago.

The big difference is that tonight he will be suited in the dug-out, not like back in August 1998, when he took charge of Sheffield United v Swindon Town as player-manager - and he was out on the pitch on his shorts. So long ago it was before the BBC Sport website had even been invented.

Bruce actually played 11 games that season, including what would prove the last game of his career, a 4-0 home defeat by Sunderland on 28 November, before dropping himself and overseeing an improvement that ended with his team finishing eighth - before Bramall Lane boardroom politics kicked in and he moved on to Huddersfield.

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That was the second of his 11 clubs, which now include both Sheffield clubs, both Tyne & Wear clubs and all three clubs with a Birmingham postcode, as well as Wigan Athletic (twice), Crystal Palace (briefly) and Hull City. But with the sort of coincidental neatness that characterises Bruce's 45 years in the game as player and manager, his first away game as Blades boss was actually at The Hawthorns.

A 4-1 defeat in which the Blades team makes interesting reading: Kelly, Borbokis, Quinn, Bruce, Nilsen, Holdsworth, Hamilton, Saunders, Taylor, Stuart, Woodhouse.

Dean Saunders scored the visitors' goal, future British light-welterweight champion Curtis Woodhouse was in the Blades midfield - and another future Blades boss Chris Wilder was on the bench, with Lee Sandford and Paul Devlin. Oh yes, and Matt Carbon, Kevin Kilbane and a Lee Hughes brace did the job for the Baggies.

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Scott Parker has laid down the gauntlet to his Bournemouth side tonight on the back of an insipid FA Cup defeat by non-league Boreham Wood - wanting a "relentless pursuit of promotion" from here on in.

He called his side "passive" in his post-match interview on Sunday and I don't doubt he was probably a little more direct than that in the dressing room after the humbling.

In reality, the Cherries have been wobbling, with three defeats in four in all competitions - and the one win against cannon fodder Barnsley.

Birmingham boss Lee Bowyer would have loved a game like this to get his teeth into as a player.

Can he get his squad to ruffle some feathers at the Vitality tonight?

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There will be few Nottingham Forest fans who expected Ben Brereton Diaz to ever justify the £7m or so Blackburn paid for his services back in January 2019.

In truth, it was a lot of cash. But justify he has. In adding a Diaz to his name he's also added bucket-loads of goals to the Rovers cause - 20 in his 28 league outings this term.

That's more than he managed in total in his previous five seasons at the City Ground and Ewood Park.

Such a spree has helped lift Rovers into promotion contention, although his half-hour cameo at Swansea post international duty on Saturday could not help spare just a second defeat in 14.

His old club Forest are enjoying their own rollercoaster surge of success; dumping rivals Leicester out of the FA Cup and charging to within a couple of points of the top six.

Tonight's game will be a stern test of both sides' minerals with regards promotion.

It's a similar story at the bottom end.

Peterborough, Reading and Cardiff are involved this evening, as are Birmingham City and Bristol City just above the places featured.

To emphasise just how important tonight's games are, let's have a look at the top of the Championship.

Blackburn, Bournemouth, QPR, Huddersfield and West Brom are all in action, as are the chasing pack of Forest, Middlesbrough and Sheffield United.

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After free-scoring Fulham's seemingly relentless march back to the Premier League took another step closer last night, this evening it's the turn of the other frontrunners to prove their promotion credentials.

We've got seven games to bring you from the Championship, and no time to waste.