Saturday sees an unusually full Championship fixture list, with all twenty-four teams competing.
The Bluebirds travel to Preston knowing that three points will keep them in the Play-Off picture, though, as ever, immediate rivals have good opportunities this week to gain ground or pull away if City stumble. Mark Denham takes up the story.
Battle at the top
Leaders Newcastle United could take as much as an eight point lead over second place by winning at Watford. The Magpies have responded superbly since their shock 3-0 defeat at Derby - a 1-1 draw at Swansea preceding emphatic wins over Coventry City and Preston North End. Watford meanwhile have achieved little to no consistency this season, their hosting of Newcastle coming on the back of a 2-2 draw at Scunthorpe last weekend.
Nottingham Forest occupy second spot currently, though West Bromwich Albion are just a point behind them and with a game in hand. The Baggies welcome Nigel Clough's Derby County to the Hawthorns this weekend, the Rams having been defeated by Swansea City at Pride Park last week after having previously beaten both Newcastle and Preston North End. Derby could move as high as eleventh with an away win, though the Baggies will be confident of securing the three points to keep the race for top spot alive.
Fourth place Swansea City have a home game with bottom side Peterborough United to look forward to. The Swans could find themselves seven points clear of the Bluebirds with a win on Saturday and just five points off an automatic promotion spot. Hapless Peterborough meanwhile are five points adrift at the bottom of the table, though beat Ipswich Town 3-1 ten days ago to revive hopes of a push for survival.
East-Midlands grudge
Perhaps the jewel in Saturday's Championship crown is the game between East-Midlands rivals Leicester City and Nottingham Forest. Forest established themselves as serious promotion contenders in the reverse fixture of this match at the beginning of December, trouncing the Foxes 5-1 at the City Ground. Since then, they have flitted between the automatic and Play-Off places, whilst Leicester have lost touch a little with the top but have remained consistent Play-Off zone incumbents. Billy Davies' side can move to within two points of leaders Newcastle United with a win, whilst Leicester will look to follow up Tuesday evening's win at Doncaster with another three points that could lift them to fourth.
Tykes host Tangerines
Barnsley's win at Cardiff City Stadium last weekend put an end to their recent run of defeats and reignited an unlikely looking late-season Play-Off bid. The Tykes are now up to eleventh in the Championship and could move as high as ninth with a win against seventh place Blackpool, the Tangerines themselves back in form following back-to-back wins against Middlesbrough and Reading. Ian Holloway's side can leapfrog Cardiff into the Play-Off zone with an away win.
Iron for Coleman
Another side harbouring late-season Play-Off ambitions are Coventry City. The Sky Blues have lost just once in their last seven games (that one defeat coming after taking the lead at Newcastle) and beat Crystal Palace last weekend at Selhurst Park. A win today could move them as high as eighth, whilst the best seventeenth place Scunthorpe United can hope for is clearing the forty point mark and dragging themselves further away from the drop-zone.
Mid-table battles
Thirteenth place Doncaster Rovers welcome relegation threatened Crystal Palace to the Keepmoat Stadium on Saturday. Neither side can gain much ground on their current standing, though a home win could push Doncaster closer to the Play-Off zone - something that has, for most of the season, looked unlikely. Palace can climb to twentieth with victory in South Yorkshire, conceivably putting themselves just a point behind Roy Keane's Ipswich Town should the Tractor Boys fail to see-off the visiting Bristol City. Despite a turbulent campaign, the Robins could find themselves in ninth by Saturday evening.
Opportunities on Teesside
City's opponents next weekend Middlesbrough host the largely unpredictable Queens Park Rangers this weekend. Rangers have plummeted down the Championship table in 2010, their 2-1 over Doncaster last Saturday being their first win since victory over Bristol City on Boxing Day. Middlesbrough meanwhile had been creeping closer towards the top-six of late, though back-to-back defeats at Blackpool and Nottingham Forest keep them in ninth place and four points off sixth.
What for the Steel City?
An unlikely relegation battle will be played out at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday where Reading take on Sheffield Wednesday. Either side could find themselves in the relegation zone by the end of play this weekend if defeated, should Crystal Palace win at Doncaster.
As has been the case for many a season, Owls' rivals Sheffield United find themselves competing at the other end of the table, currently sitting in eighth place. The Blades' form has improved significantly since the beginning of the season and now just four points behind sixth place Cardiff, last season's losing Play-Off finalists look on course for another top-six push. Bottom but one Plymouth Argyle are the visitors to Bramall Lane, the Pilgrims five points clear of bottom spot but also five away from safety.
So, the Bluebirds are currently sixth in the division but with a game in hand on most of the sides around them. By winning at Preston they could climb back to fifth - defeat meanwhile could see them slip out of the Play-Off picture into seventh.
