Ollie Tanner can't steer his header on target from a Karlan Grant cross, as Cardiff register an early chance.

Another half-chance for Birmingham, Koji Myoshi putting Oliver Burke away into space with a delicious flick, but the Scot's ball forward for Jay Stansfield is mopped up.

Noisy away end and some excellent play from their team.

Brad Potts puts in a challenge on Koji Myoshi as he goes hunting for goal, but the Preston man's challenge fails to prompt referee Dean Whitestone into a toot on his whistle.

At the other end, Birmingham keeper John Ruddy takes a teasing cross from Duane Holmes.

Away we go!

What games are you keeping an eye on tonight?

Let us know your thoughts as the goals fly in this evening by using #bbcefl on X - formerly known as Twitter (we all still call it that don't we?)

As if all that wasn't enough, there are also 12 EFL Trophy games to enjoy this evening.

A number of Premier League under-21 sides are in action on the road tonight, including Liverpool at Morecambe, Villa at Sutton and Spurs at Colchester.

Elsewhere, ties include League One Oxford v MK Dons of League Two, and a couple of all-League One clashes which see leaders Exeter take on Reading, and Derby hosting Lincoln.

If Cheltenham Town fail to score away at Peterborough tonight they will match the record for most games without scoring at the start of a season in English Football League history.

Another goalless Robins performance will mean they will equal Halifax Town's sequence of eight games without a goal set in the 1990-91 season.

Some good news for Cheltenham fans is that Halifax avoided relegation that season!

Elsewhere in the third tier, fifth-place Barnsley take on Portsmouth in sixth and a win for either will send them to the top of the league.

The Tykes have won their last three and will have the division's top-scorer Devante Cole hungry to add to his eight goals against a Pompey side who are unbeaten in seven League One games.

Second-place Port Vale are looking to make it five wins in a row with victory over struggling Burton, who are yet to taste success in their opening seven games.

Sounds straightforward - but rarely is!

Image source, Getty Images

It's a pretty desperate situation that Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough find themselves in, even if it is just six games into the new season.

Neither club has a win yet, and just a point apiece is a disappointing return.

Wednesday finally made it back into the Championship having been sucked into the League One whirlpool a couple of seasons ago but the joy of promotion has been swiftly forgotten after five defeats.

Xisco Munoz might be wondering what he's taken on having replaced popular Darren Moore, who left despite securing a play-off final success.

Middlesbrough were in the mix to go into the Premier League last season, losing to Coventry in the play-off semis, and Michael Carrick had something of a Midas touch following his mid-season arrival.

Boro soared up the table, fired by a revitalised Chuba Akpom. His 29-goal boots have taken a jet to Amsterdam since to join Ajax, and without him the team has struggled.

Munoz and Carrick share a similar goal. Turn things round. Only one them can do so tonight...

Image source, Rex Features

Swansea boss Michael Duff heads to the capital tonight in real need of a win to boost team morale and get fans back on side after what has been a tough start to life in south Wales for the ex-Barnsley boss.

The Swans are one of three sides yet to win after six games of the season and pressure is already building on Duff after the 2-0 derby defeat by fierce rivals Cardiff in the rain on Saturday night.

It promises to be a pivotal period for him with matches against teams around them coming up in QPR tonight and Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday. If things don't improve soon those murmurings of discontent from the stands will only get louder.

Gareth Ainsworth has been in the QPR hotseat a bit longer than Duff has at Swansea but he is also a man needing to turn his side's fortunes around.

The 50-year-old only won three of 13 games last season after his appointment in February as the R's finished six points clear of the relegation zone and things have not started too much better this campaign with four defeats in six games.

Both managers will be desperate for a precious three points - but who will be going home happier tonight?

Image source, Getty Images

Fresh from winning south Wales bragging rights against rivals Swansea, Cardiff look to continue their upturn in form as Coventry come to town.

Including cup games, the Bluebirds have won three of the past four, with their only loss in that run coming to early-season highfliers Ipswich in a five-goal thriller.

Coventry, like their hosts, have just seven points this season but have conversely only tasted defeat once - against Leicester on the opening weekend.

The old adage that it's better to win a couple and lose a couple rather than keep drawing is perhaps born out by the fact they're down in 15th. Mark Robins' side remain hard to beat but are still yet to work out life without Viktor Gyokeres and Gustavo Hamer.

Those two fired them to the play-offs last year, and they were always going to be tough to replace. Someone needs to step up in Sky Blue...

Image source, Rex Features

Two teams who have had steady starts to the season go head-to-head in the West Country this evening.

Robins fans have become used to being in mid-table in recent seasons and that's where they sit ahead of the match. Nigel Pearson's men are in 11th spot following a 0-0 draw against West Brom on Saturday.

They have only lost one league match so far - a 2-0 home defeat by Birmingham City on 19 August - but have only scored five goals in six matches which is one of the things that has prevented them turning three draws into wins and with it the chance to rise up the table.

Plymouth will be hoping to build on what has been a promising start to life in the Championship following promotion.

They've enjoyed a couple of confidence-boosting wins, hitting three in victories over Huddersfield and Blackburn and their defeats have mainly been by the odd goal, proving they have what it takes to compete at this level.

Argyle, in 14th, also have the league's leading hitman at their disposal, with Ryan Hardie scoring five times of his side's nine league goals this season.

Image source, Rex Features

Ipswich have enjoyed an excellent start to life back in the Championship following promotion and remain among the early-season pace-setters.

Saturday's 1-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday, who followed them up from League One, sees them start tonight's game in third - one point behind leaders Preston.

A defeat to Leeds on 26 August is the Tractor Boys' only defeat in their eight games in all competitions this season and they'll be hoping to maintain their form against Southampton, who they have not met in a league game since the 2011-12 campaign.

As far Saints, it was all going so well in August. Russell Martin's side were unbeaten in four league games, scoring ten goals in the process as the former Premier League team started in the way many expected.

But then September hit and the Saints suddenly could not shipping goals. A 5-0 hammering against Sunderland was followed by a 4-1 loss to Leicester to hand them their first two league defeats of the season.

All of a sudden they have conceded the most in the division (16) and need to plug the holes in their leaky defence to avoid a third defeat on the spin.

Image source, Getty Images

Ryan Lowe's Preston North End have been the stand-out side from the start of the Championship season, winning five of their six unbeaten games to kick off the campaign.

Miserly in defence, conceding just four, the early-season pacesetters have won five on the spin.

Their opponents Birmingham had a start to match the media focus as NFL legend Tom Brady got on board as part of the ownership team, racking up four wins in all competitions after an opening weekend draw like a tight-spiral into the end zone.

Since then, they've been dumped out of the League Cup and picked up just one point from six under John Eustace - albeit Watford scored both their goals in second-half stoppage time at the weekend.

The stats don't make for kind reading either. Preston are unbeaten in 14 midweek home games, while the Blues won just two of their 10 midweek games last season.

Hello and thanks for joining us on a busy old night of football.

We have six Championship games, three League One fixtures, and 12 EFL Trophy ties to get stuck in to.

So, without further ado, let's take a closer look at our evening entertainment.