Bit of concern for Cardiff as Perry Ng puts the ball out of play in order to receive some treatment.

It was a voluntary stoppage and therefore must be taken seriously.

Image source, Getty Images

It is testament to the work of two young English football bosses that the northerly-east coast of England features two of the Championship's most exciting developments right now.

Michael Carrick has shown all the cultured style and temperament he possessed in the midfields of Europe and the Premier League can transfer nicely to the technical areas of the Championship, with a Boro side that play neat and for the most part effective football.

There are going to be bumps in the road, for Carrick is coaching players not stockpiling them from a bottomless pit of cash, and the same can be said of Liam Rosenior at Hull City.

Acun Ilicali has done some great work as owner at Hull, rebridging the gap between club and fans, and his faith in another measured, intelligent boss in Rosenior has yielded a side that is knocking on the door of the play-offs.

As it happens, those bumps in the road are being felt right now after back-to-back defeats for both clubs. Both want to get back on the proverbial horse.

This should be an entertaining examination of both side's credentials up at the Riverside - easily as tasty as parmo versus pattie butty.

The value of an in-form striker is certainly in evidence tonight at the CBS Arena as Coventry's three-man strike force has just eight goals between them while Adam Armstrong and Che Adams have 16 across their efforts.

Armstrong has shouldered much of the burden with 12 but Scotland forward Adams is a threat too.

Much is expected of Coventry's Ellis Simms who has failed to really get up and running since his multi-million pound move from Everton. He did score goals at Sunderland last season.

Plymouth have come out brightly at Loftus Road.

Morgan Whittaker worked QPR goalkeeper Asmir Begovic inside the first minute, having done well to race clear to the edge of the box before having a go. In the end, however, the shot is straight at the keeper.

First chance goes Birmingham's way, as Siriki Dembele gets an effort away but Runar Runarsson makes the save for Cardiff.

Wayne Rooney has no doubt drilled into his side that they need a result here tonight.

Leicester City are again without ex-England striker Jamie Vardy and Nigeria forward Kelechi Iheanacho, so Patson Daka is up front for the Foxes once more.

Daka was very much out of favour before last week, but he marked his first start of the campaign with a goal against Plymouth on Saturday.

He has displayed great form for Zambia in recent months, even when Enzo Maresca wasn’t calling on him at Leicester, so you get the feeling he has goals in him.

We are up and running in five of tonight's six games.

Middlesbrough-Hull goes off at 20:00 GMT so we'll preview that between now and the ref's whistle on Teesside.

Just how different will the Championship table look in a few hours? Much can happen at the bottom and top of the standings...

BBC local radio

Don't shoot the messenger here, but because of rights restrictions we are unable to bring you online audio commentary of tonight's games.

If it's any consolation, you can tune into coverage from your local BBC stations if you're within their transmission area.

Here on this page, we do have a vidiprinter offering with 5 live coverage which you can get by clicking on the play button at the top of this page.

Happy listening.

Marti Cifuentes has overseen a heck of a Queens Park Rangers revival since taking the job at Loftus Road in October.

The Spaniard took over when the Hoops were six points adrift of Huddersfield, who were just outside the relegation places.

Tonight, victory against Plymouth will take QPR out of the bottom three and above the Terriers.

If they do beat the Pilgrims, it will actually be enough to move them equal on points with the Devon side, who are back on the road after suffering a 4-0 defeat by high-flyers Leicester City just four days ago.

Image source, Getty Images

There is a cruel irony that Wayne Rooney's Birmingham side happens to be sponsored by streetwear manufacturer and specialist sneaker retailer 'Undefeated' given the struggles he has endured since taking charge at St Andrew's.

The gear might have looked good but the football hasn't matched the sharpness of the threads, with just one win in Rooney's nine games in charge and six defeats - five of which have come away from home.

Just how long he will get to turn things round rests on whether the Shelby group goes all metaphorically 'Peaky Blinders' about it and makes the cut.

Cardiff have won six and lost just two of their last nine at home and haven't lost to the Blues in 15 years in the Welsh capital.

Erol Bulut's side are by no means impervious though, losing home games against West Brom and Norwich before returning to winning ways against Millwall last time out.

Sheffield Wednesday stunned Stoke City to climb off the bottom of the Championship ladder at the weekend.

Can they now make it three wins on the spin to move clear of rock-bottom Rotherham?

In their way tonight is a Norwich City side that has lost just once in their past four games.

The trip to Carrow Road isn't about to be an easy one for an Owls side that are winless in their past five away league visits there (D2 L3), dating back to April 2009.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

This game for me just evokes feelings of joy. Whether it's both kits made by a certain Danish sportswear manufacturer or the fact it takes me back to the late 1980s and memories of Cyrille Regis, Steve Livingstone, Matt Le Tissier and Rod Wallace... Or at least Baz Horne and Dean Emerson as shown in the pic.

Anyway, back to the here and now, and there's still plenty of get excited about.

Form-wise, both sides have been decent of late, with three wins from four for a Callum O'Hare-refreshed Coventry and eight wins from 12 unbeaten for Southampton who have been powered by prolific Adam Armstrong in particular.

Saints can move level on points with third-placed Leeds with victory away at the CBS Arena, while the Sky Blues can move into the top half depending on other results with their own success.

Image source, Getty Images

Leicester City lost their place at the Championship summit to Ipswich Town last night.

Only victory against lowly Millwall will be enough to move the Foxes back to the top.

Doing so will also ensure Leicester a place in the history books. They could become the joint-quickest side to 50 points in a Championship season since the division was re-branded 2004.

Before yesterday, the Reading side of 2005-06 were the fastest (50 points in first 21 matches), but Ipswich outdid them by getting to 51 points to leapfrog the Foxes at the top with 51 points in 21 games.

Millwall make the trip to the King Power Stadium looking to end a five game winless run.

The Londoners are just two places and two points above the relegation spots after winning just one of their past 10 league games (D4 L5), dating back to early October.

Image source, Getty Images

It was a mixed bag of results for Championship high-fliers Leicester last night, as the gauntlet was thrown down by Ipswich Town's 2-1 win over Watford which unseated the Foxes from top spot.

Conversely, Jobe Bellingham's header earned a superb home win for managerless Sunderland over Leeds and in turn denied the Whites the chance to whittle away the gap on the top two.

Two Lancastrian clubs enjoyed a welcome return to form in Preston North End and Blackburn, beating Huddersfield away and Bristol City at home respectively.

West Brom bounced back from defeat by Sunderland to hand Leam Richardson defeat in his opening game in charge for Rotherham, while Harry was Swansea's Darling with a late equaliser to deny interim boss Paul Gallagher a win in charge of Stoke after Alex Neil's exit.

Here are the Championship fixtures we'll be following tonight, with all kick-offs 19:45 GMT unless stated differently.

• Cardiff City v Birmingham City
• Coventry City v Southampton
• Leicester City v Millwall
• Norwich City v Sheffield Wednesday
• Queens Park Rangers v Plymouth Argyle
• Middlesbrough v Hull (20:00 GMT)

The relentless chug of the Championship shows no signs of slowing down, and the advent calendar door opens to reveal more than just a chocolate treat* of this Wednesday, 13 December.

Whether your business is top of the table, middle-ground or the battle at the bottom, we've got something to interest you in our midweek selection box of second-tier action.

So loosen your belt, and get stuck in.

*There is no chocolate treat. Sorry.

Image source, Rex Features