With three games to play due to the bad weather, only five Championship teams are definitely through to the fourth round, five face replays (four of them against teams that are in League One or lower) which means half the division were knocked out. The teams that were beaten by Premier League and Championship sides have an excuse, but the rest were just dire. The biggest surprise was Leeds being knocked out by Rochdale (managed by ex-Barnsley boss Keith Hill), although Millwall being hammered by Southend wasn’t far off.

On the other hand, Nottingham Forest thoroughly deserved their 5-0 win over West Ham. I don’t care if Sam Allardyce fielded a ‘weakened’ side at the City Ground: based on the Hammers’ performance in the Capital One Cup this week, Forest would have beaten the ’senior’ side handily too.

I’ll be back to looking at individual games next week – mostly because I haven’t quite shaken Christmas yet and I’m determined to stick to one of my new year’s resolutions. Well, until the end of January at least.

Anyway, here are the half term reports…

A+

Leicester, Burnley

The most improved teams in the Championship so far this season. Leicester probably didn’t need to improve by much to become a genuine promotion contender but Nigel Pearson and Sean Dyche are proof of my theory that managers with Championship experience tend to do better than those without it- the latter has overseen improvements at Burnley and Watford and should be in line for a ‘bigger’ job in the near future. Both teams can concentrate on the league for the rest of the season: they were narrowly beaten by Premier League opposition.

A

QPR, Derby, Nottingham Forest, Brighton

Derby have clearly benefitted from a change of manager, but the jury is still out about their prospects for the rest of the season. Forest and Brighton were probably always going to be somewhere around the top six but although the Seagulls had a stuttering start, they’ve maintained an upwards trajectory even though they generally haven’t performed as well as they were under Gus Poyet. I picked Forest in pre-season so I’m pleased that they’re doing well. As for QPR, it’s a case of wait and see – although if their FA Cup drubbing at Goodison at the weekend is anything to go by, it might be a long wait, especially if they run out of goals. Only five clubs have scored fewer and three of them are in the bottom five.

A-

Wigan

This is very much a provisional rating, based on two things: Uwe Roesler’s appointment and no longer having to play in the Europa League. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the Latics make a playoff run, but after Saturday’s performance against MK Dons when they threw away a two goal lead they need to minimise mental errors.

B

Ipswich, Blackburn

Both clubs may have to wait for the great leap forward until 2014/2015. Ipswich have improved a lot since Mick McCarthy took over and it’ll be interesting to see if they can maintain their form for the second half of the season. The tumultuous events at Ewood Park seem to be a thing of the past but Rovers need to be careful or they could turn into a perennial mid-table team in the same way Ipswich have been over the last decade.

B-

Reading, Watford

It’s about here that we start reaching a level of disappointment that has Home Counties written all over it: Berkshire and Hertfordshire aren’t exactly traditional hotbeds of football. Reading haven’t really made much of an attempt at cracking the playoff places despite the resources that are available and Watford are definitely suffering from a playoff hangover. By all accounts the Hornets are lucky to still be in the FA Cup.

C+

Middlesbrough, Bournemouth

I was challenged on twitter after failing to be impressed with the appointment of Aitor Karanka and although I’m still not convinced, results since Tony Mowbray have picked up and they’re capable of scoring once more, so Boro are in the ‘wait and see’ category. Bournemouth started off reasonably well, but haven’t been that impressive lately and look like a classic ‘bottom half’ team. Now would be a good time for Eddie Howe to sort out the Cherries defence if they don’t want to end up in a relegation scrap

C

Birmingham, Bolton, Leeds, Huddersfield

Birmingham are usually underwhelming until the clocks go forward. Huddersfield and Leeds continue to be the best teams in Yorkshire, even though that’s not saying much these days but the Terriers have both definitely learned from last season, James Vaughan has finally replaced Jordan Rhodes and they could be on the brink of a cup run. Bolton were disappointing under Owen Coyle and are now disappointing under Dougie Freedman: if they can replicate the second half of last season they may reach the playoffs, but don’t bank on it. Could do better.

C-

Blackpool, Charlton, Sheffield Wednesday

One win in ten, an awful disciplinary record and online ‘critcism’ of Paul Ince’s training methods by Michael Chopra have all contributed  to Blackpool’s slide down the table at a rate of knots: I tipped Sheffield Wednesday to struggle at the start of the season and they’re actually worse than they were in 2012/13. I’m genuinely surprised by how badly Charlton are doing as I thought they had a chance of promotion: it could be ‘difficult second season’ syndrome, but might also be a sign of worse to come next season.

D

Millwall, Doncaster, Yeovil

Stop messing about at the back. Despite my pre-season optimism, this season was always going to be a struggle for Yeovil and I’m not surprised Doncaster are having problems either – losing at home in the FA Cup to a struggling League One side (Stevenage) is evidence of that. Millwall’s decline began at this point last season and with the benefit of hindsight I think Kenny Jackett was perceptive enough to realise he’d done as much as he could at the New Den. Appointing Steve Lomax as manager was a bit like asking Ed Miliband to take over the Conservative party and losing so heavily to Southend in the cup will have left a very bitter taste in many mouths. Ian Holloway should have an immediate impact, but he’s got his work cut out for him.

D-

Barnsley

I’ve written this before and I’m writing it again: over the past few seasons, there have always been three teams worse than Barnsley. That’s no longer the case: the question is whether Barnsley are better than three other teams. At this point, the answer is a resounding no.

The Foxes picked up maximum points over the holiday period and now have a four point lead over Burnley, who lost at Middlesbrough on Boxing Day. I’m on record about not being optimistic about Leicester’s chances for promotion but I’m prepared to eat my words. For the first time since their return to the second tier I think they may have a very good chance of promotion from the Championship.

The other winners over Christmas were Nottingham Forest – another one of my pre-season fancies – who are now embedded in fifth place until after the 3rd round of the FA Cup. Victories over QPR and Leeds combined with a point at Reading further strenghthened their claim. I wondered if Derby might run out of steam and despite being handily placed at the start of 2014 the home defeat by Wigan on Wednesday could be an indication of things to come.

Millwall and Yeovil were both disappointing. The Lions sacked Steve Lomas on Boxing Day and were one of six teasm who picked up one point or less over the holidays. Kenny Jacket was always going to be a hard act to follow and Lomas’ West Ham connections weren’t exactly appreciated by some of the locals, but once again it shows that managers without experience in the Championship will fail more often than not. Doncaster – who slipped into the bottom three since the first game of the season -and Barnsley also only earned one point. Yeovil gained precisely zero points although their game against Watford on New Year’s Day was postponed.

The FA Cup takes centre stage this weekend and at the risk of repeating myself,  realistically I think the best chances of a decent cup run should come from the teams in the top half of the table that are taking on opposition from lower down the Football League. Although Blackburn entertain Manchester City in the first game of the round (Saturday 12:45pm BT Sport), Ipswich, Leeds and Wigan all look as if they should have a reasonable chance to reach the next round. The Tractor Boys face a Preston side that’s currently in the League One playoff places in what could close game; Wigan start their defence of the FA Cup with their first ever meeting against MK Dons and Leeds travel to Rochdale – where they’ve won both their previous cup games without conceding a goal.

As far as I can see, there’s one obvious potential upset involving Premier League clubs on the cards: although Nottingham Forest have only beaten West Ham once at the City Ground in the last two decades (Sunday, ITV1 12:00pm), the Hammers’ current form indicates that Sam Allardyce may be better off concentrating on staying in the Premier League than going on a cup run. Forest haven’t lost at home since the end of November and although West Ham won at Burnley and Spurs in the Capital One Cup earlier this season, they’ve not won an away game in the Premier League since the start of October and are facing one of the better home defences in the Championship.

Looking at it from the other way round, I’m not convinced that either Yeovil or Watford will have everything their own way on Saturday. The Glovers entertain Leyton Orient at Huish Park and although the League One promotion contenders have only won one of their last five league games, Orient have only lost one of their last eleven away FA Cup ties. Watford’s 4-0 victory over Millwall on Boxing Day was their first league win since October and although it’s their first ever game at Bristol City in the FA Cup, the last time the Hornets won on the road in the FA Cup was at Plymouth seven years ago.

Finally this week I’d like to wish you all a Happy New Year and offer my commiserations to Malky Mackay. This time last year I compared the dysfunctional situations at Blackburn and Nottingham Forest to those at Cardiff, Millwall and Peterborough where managers were allowed time to build and strengthen their sides. If a week is a long time in politics, then a year is a long time in football. As far as I’m concerned, the current powers that be at Cardiff City have made as a big a mistake dismissing Mackay as they have with changing the colour of their shirts from blue to red.

Back next week with the half term reports…

Championship v Premier League

Blackburn v Manchester City, Derby v Chelsea, Everton v QPR, Middlesbrough v Hull, Nottingham Forest v West Ham, Southampton v Burnley, Stoke v Leicester

Championship v Championship

Bolton v Blackpool, Brighton v Reading

Championship v League 1

Bristol City v Watford, Doncaster v Stevenage, Ipswich v Preston, Wigan v MK Dons, Yeovil v Leyton Orient

Championship v League 2

Bournemouth v Fleetwood/Burton, Southend United v Millwall, Rochdale v Leeds

Championship v Conference

Grimsby v Huddersfield Town, Macclesfield v Sheffield Wednesday

Championship v TBD

Barnsley v Hartlepool/Coventry, Birmingham v Bristol Rovers/Crawley, Charlton v Wrexham/Oxford (playing this evening)

With only two guaranteed places in the fourth round and the possibility of the majority of the clubs drawn against Premier League opposition probably being eliminated, it may not be a vintage year for the Championship in the FA Cup. Note that the top three have all been drawn against Premier League sides and the bottom three all have potentially tricky ties – if Macclesfield could beat Cardiff last season, there’s no reason why they couldn’t upset Sheffield Wednesday.

Back on Friday with the weekend preview, plus a look at why Blackpool seem to have competely lost it recently. I’ll also be doing my best not to make any mistakes…

Friday

Millwall v Aston Villa

Millwall got to the final in 2004 and reached the 5^th round last season but the fourth round is normally about as far the Lions get. If Villa are feeling a bit fragile after their shock defeat in the Carling Cup on Tuesday night then the atmosphere at the New Den might be a bit too much for them: the last time these played in the FA Cup at Millwall, the Lions won a fourth round tie in January 1986 following a 1-1 draw at Villa Park.

Giantkilling possibility: good

Result: Millwall 2, Aston Villa 1. Millwall face giant killers Luton at Kenilworth Road in the fifth round.

Saturday

All kick offs at 3:00pm, no television coverage

Bolton v Everton

Bolton have done well in this competition in the last few seasons (beaten semi finalists in 2010) but although Everton have not won it since 1995, the Toffees’ recent record in the cup is better overall. However, the last meeting in the FA Cup produced an upset: in January 1994, Bolton – in the third tier at that point – won 3-2 in a replay at Goodison Park.

Giantkilling possibility: poor. I can see Everton going far in this season’s competition.

Result: Bolton 1, Everton 2. The visitors won with an injury time goal.

Brighton v Arsenal

Brighton have reached the fifth round in two of the last three seasons, but aren’t particularly well known for their cup exploits. The FA Cup represents Arsene Wenger’s last chance to win silverware this season and so I’d be surprised if the Gunners don’t go for it. Last time they played each other in the FA Cup was in January 1988 – Arsenal won 2-1 at the Goldstone Ground.

Giant killing possibility: unlikely, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be a close game.

Result: Brighton 2, Arsenal 3

Derby v Blackburn

The Rams have reached the fourth round or beyond in nine of the last ten seasons but haven’t managed to qualify the sixth round since 1999. Since reaching the semi finals in 2007, Rovers have only got past the fourth round once. Last meeting in the FA Cup was in Feb 2001, Blackburn won 5-2 at Pride Park after a goalless draw in Lancashire.

Result: Derby 0, Blackburn 3. Blackburn will play at Arsenal in the next round.

Huddersfield v Leicester

The 5^th round is about as good as it gets for newly managerless Huddersfield: Leicester got to the sixth round last season but haven’t been anywhere near the latter stages of the cup for three decades. These clubs have never met in an FA Cup tie, which is a surprise since they first played each other over a century ago.

I’d keep an eye on this one for a possible upset. The Terriers are on a poor run whilst Leicester are going well at the top of the table. A lot depends on whether Nigel Pearson decides to select a strong side or not.

Result: 1-1. Replay is on February 12th, winner will play Wigan at home in the next round.

Hull v Barnsley

Having not reached the third round for almost two decades, Hull’s best performance was 6^th round in 2009. Barnsley got all the way to the semi finals in 2008 but since then the Tykes haven’t gone any further than the fourth round. Only other cup meeting: 3^rd round January 1958, Hull won 2-0 at Oakwell following a 1-1 draw at Boothferry Park

Result: Hull 0, Barnsley 1. Barnsley will visit Milton Keynes Dons in the next round.

Middlesbrough v Aldershot

Boro should reach the 5^th round for the first time in five seasons: this is the first time Aldershot have got this far since the mid 1980s and the first time they’ve ever played Middlesbrough in any competition.

Giant killing possibility: slim to none. Middlesbrough are getting an easy ride in the competition so far.

Result: Middlesbrough 2, Aldershot 1 – but two of those goals came after the 85th minute and at one point this game looked as if it was heading for a replay. Boro will face Brentford or Chelsea in the next round.

Sunday

Leeds v Spurs (ESPN, 2:00pm)

Leeds haven’t got past the fourth round since 2003. Despite beating Manchester United in the third round a couple of seasons ago, Leeds were then drawn against Spurs and although they drew at White Hart Lane, Tottenham won the replay at Elland Road. The last time the hosts defeated Sunday’s visitors in this competition (1972) they went on to win it.

Result: Leeds 2, Spurs 1. Leeds will face Manchester City at the Etihad in the next round.

Leicester and Middlesbrough kept their respective promotion challenges going with two wins in three games, but Crystal Palace only managed one win over the holiday period and have fallen nine points behind Cardiff: I tend not to pay much attention to the transfer rumour mill, but if Manchester United are genuinely interested in Wilfred Zaha, any move could be detrimental to the Eagles automatic promotion hopes.

At the bottom, Peterborough managed to drag themselves out of the bottom three since the end of October with wins over Wolves and Barnsley but with the bottom four clubs separated by only four points there’s still a lot to play for. Bristol City had their Boxing Day game with Watford postponed due to the torrential rain that’s been plagued the West Country and the Robins now have a game in hand that could be vital in the long run.

The only teams to draw a complete blank over the holidays were Wolves – who scored once, conceded eight times, and have now lost four of their last five games – and bottom of the table Barnsley. After a week which saw managerial changes at both Blackburn and Nottingham Forest because their respective owners seem to be suffering from delusions of grandeur rather than for footballing reasons, Keith Hill’s dismissal following the Tykes home defeat by Blackburn last Saturday was much more prosaic. Barnsley weren’t very good last season – although to be fair to Hill the Tykes were never in the bottom three – and haven’t been any better in the first half of 2012/13: one win in the last fourteen league games and finishing the year in last place was enough to convince the powers that be at Oakwell that a change was necessary.

I covered the 3rd Round of the FA Cup (with Budweiser – which is what you’re supposed to say) in this post at the start of last month, so there’s probably no need to go over the same ground today. The only televised game involving a Championship team this weekend is when Newcastle visit Brighton at lunchtime (ITV, 12:30pm) but given the lack of sustained success in the competition by second tier teams in the last few seasons, a couple of upsets by sides further down the league and one team in the quarter finals will probably be the highlight this year.

Anyway, here’s how it breaks down:

Championship v Premier League

Aston Villa v Ipswich

Bolton v Sunderland

Brighton v Newcastle

Crystal Palace v Stoke

Fulham v Blackpool

Manchester City v Watford

Peterborough v Norwich

This already looks like the end of the road for both Ipswich and Peterborough: although Brighton beat Newcastle in the competition last season, both they and Watford would probably exchange a cup run for a place in the playoffs. Zola v Mancini looks very tasty to me.

All Championship Games

Barnsley v Burnley

Blackburn v Bristol City

Charlton v Huddersfield

Leeds v Birmingham

The interesting aspect of this group of games is that two of the current bottom five have to play other Championship sides. It would appear that Bristol City and Barnsley may have to wait another year for cup glory: Blackburn could go a long way in the competition this season.

Championship v League 1

Derby v Tranmere

Hull v Leyton Orient

Millwall v Preston

Nottingham Forest v Oldham

Sheffield Wednesday v Milton Keynes Dons

The last game was a league match in League 1 last season: I suppose this is a potential upset, but with only a few places between the sides I wouldn’t be surprised if the last thing the hosts want is a run in the FA Cup. If Millwall and Nottingham Forest win their ties, they must stand a reasonable chance of having a decent cup run.

Championship v League 2

Leicester v Burton

Championship v Non League

Barrow/Macclesfield Town v Cardiff

Luton v Wolves

Middlesbrough v Harrogate Town/Hastings

I’d be amazed if there are any shocks here, but it’ s significant that four of the top five teams have games they ought to win easily. Cardiff in particular may be worth keeping an eye on: a nasty looking Christmas programme (Leicester, Crystal Palace and Millwall in succession), then a visit to a non-league team.

Back at the end of the week to take a look at the league games this weekend.

It’s the fourth round of the FA Cup this weekend and there are ten Championship clubs left in the tournament, but only one guaranteed spot in the fifth round. There are also two league games taking place this weekend and we’ll come to them later.

From a Championship perspective, the pick of the ties is this evening’s meeting between Watford and Spurs (7:45pm, ESPN) although it’s worth pointing out that The Hornets have never beaten Spurs in a cup competition and have only beaten Tottenham twice in 12 games at Vicarage Road. Having said that, despite their less than impressive league position at the moment, Watford have only lost two of their last ten home games and with the Premier League club having an injury crisis as well as a manager in the dock at the moment, the game could make very interesting viewing.

The rest of the cup ties this weekend are a mixed bag: arguably the biggest chance of an upset is at Pride Park, where Derby entertain Stoke City. In terms of upsets being caused against Championship sides, Birmingham make the trip to Sheffield United in a game that looks like anything but a straightforward and both Leicester and Hull will have to be at their best when Swindon Town and Crawley visit.

The only all Championship tie would normally be a candidate for game of the week: Southampton haven’t been at their best away from home recently (two wins in the last ten) and so the last place the Saints would probably want to visit at the moment is Millwall, who seem to have rediscovered the art of scoring goals recently.

However, once again this is one of those games where the away side has dominated the home team in recent meetings: Millwall have only won once in the last ten meetings between the clubs in all competitions in South London and you’ve got to back almost three and half decades to find the last time the Lions beat the visitors at home.

The other two televised games follow the same pattern as those of the Third Round. Newcastle haven’t played at Brighton (5:15pm, ESPN) for almost 20 years – and the last time Brighton played Newcastle in the Cup was in 1982/83, when the Sussex club reached the final and were beaten by Manchester United in a replay following the ‘…and Smith must score’ game. Despite having been knocked out of the African Cup of Nations, Newcastle will be without Senegalese strikers Papis Cisse and Demba Ba for the game.

ITV aren’t well known for changing what appears to be a winning formula and their coverage of the FA Cup seems to be evolving into ‘Sunderland v Championship club’ : Peterborough were the Mackems victims in the last round and this time they’re playing Middlesbrough (ITV1, 1:30pm). It’s been a while since they met in a Cup competition  when they weren’t in the same division, but it’s even longer ago since they met in the FA Cup at Sunderland: January 1934 to be precise, when Sunderland progressed to the Fourth Round after winning a replay at Ayresome Park.

There’s a full league programme on Tuesday night, but four clubs decided to bring forward their games to Saturday afternoon, which gives us a chance to take a look at two clubs that we’ve not mentioned recently. Game of the day in the league is Peterborough v Portsmouth: only two points separate them at the moment, but although Pompey have maintained their somewhat schizophrenic form this season (playoff material at home, bound for League 1 away), The Posh dropped out of the top ten in November and have only recorded two wins in their last ten games, so this is the type of game that could tell us how the rest of the season might pan out for these clubs over the rest of the season. Pompey were rocked by Tuesday’s news that they face a winding up order and could face administration – which is something  they’ll desperately want to avoid – a ten point deduction would automatically send them to the bottom of the  table.

With less than a week to go on the transfer deadline there’s still not been a great deal of activity, although Reading – who face Bristol City in the only other league game tomorrow have been in the middle of it. The Royals have signed Tomasz Cywka on a free transfer from Derby and Jason Roberts from Blackburn Rovers, but apart from some loan moves that’s been about it this week. However, by the time I preview Tuesday’s matches there may be news on more moves – including a possible conclusion to the Nicky Maynard saga.

Cardiff’s point at Doncaster shouldn’t have come as a surprise – as I pointed out last week the Bluebirds have a good record at Donny – but Middlesbrough chose last weekend to lose at home to Burnley for the first time in almost 30 years. Southampton and West Ham both won on the road and so in the space of an hour and a half the situation was back to almost exactly the same as it was a fortnight ago.

At the bottom of the table all six teams failed to win – Ipswich moved above Bristol City, but despite establishing a two goal lead over Blackpool the Tractor Boys failed to pick up three points. The biggest losers last weekend weren’t Millwall – although the dismissals of Adam Dunne and Shane Lowry during a 6-0 hammering by Birmingham isn’t exactly a contender for performance of the week – but Coventry City. The Sky Blues not only lost 1-0 at Pride Park, but Lukas Jutkiewicz joined Middlesbrough: the 22 year old striker was responsible for scoring nine of Coventry’s 20 league goals this season and his departure leaves a gap that may not be filled anytime soon.

The FA Cup replays took place earlier in the week: it was the turn of Leicester turn to stop Nottingham Forest from scoring and a hat-trick from Jermaine Beckford ensured that the Foxes will entertain Swindon at the King Power Stadium next weekend. Millwall took their frustrations out on Dagenham & Redbridge with three goals from Darius Henderson and a brace from Harry Kane and will play Southampton. Birmingham became the only Championship side to defeat a Premier League team in the cup so far this when a goal from Wade Elliott at Molineux saw the Blues into the fourth round. Brighton had to come from behind at the Racecourse Ground to beat Wrexham on penalties and will have a lucrative fourth round tie against Newcastle.

There are three candidates for game of the week this weekend: Doncaster visit Bristol City in the only game between teams in the bottom six and a win for either side could prove invaluable in the long term as current form indicates that Nottingham Forest won’t get anything at West Ham. So the choice this week is the potential playoff matchup between Reading at Hull at the Madjeski Stadium.

As you might expect from clubs in fifth and sixth place, neither club has a particularly strong record against the other clubs competing for promotion.  Despite an inconsistent start – as recently as the end of November they were in the bottom half of the table – Reading have only lost one of their last ten league games at home (to Cardiff) whereas Hull have lost at both Middlesbrough and Southampton in the last seven weeks. The Tigers don’t have a particularly good record in Berkshire, having only won twice in the ten visits to Reading since England won the World Cup and this looks like a difficult game for them, especially as Reading have won four consecutive games at the mad house and Hull haven’t been scoring much away from the KC.

Last game of the week is one the rare televised Monday night games outings for Championship teams when Leicester travel to St. Mary’s to take on the leaders (Sky Sports 1, 7:45pm) . If West Ham can pick up at least a point against Forest – which seems highly likely – than Southampton will have to make sure they don’t lose to Leicester. That outcome is also highly likely as this is yet another one of those games where history is favours one team. Leicester have failed to score in five of their last six games at either St. Mary’s or The Dell and have only won once on the South Coast since 1970.

Apart from Lukas Jutkiewicz’ move to Middlesbrough, there hasn’t been a great deal of business in the transfer market. Norwich have agreed terms with Leeds captain Johnny Howson and Ben Mee has joined Burnley from Manchester City but the two eye catching deals involve a player with no club and an ex-manager. Kelvin Etuhu – jailed for six months following a conviction for assault last year – has joined Portsmouth, while former Doncaster boss Sean O’Driscoll has joined Nottingham Forest as first team coach: if Forest continue their current form, it’s not inconceivable that O’Driscoll may find himself back in management sooner rather than later.

I’ll be back early next week with a round up of this weekend’s games and a preview of the second leg of the Carling Cup semi final. I’m also toying with the idea of having a full scale rant about a certain Premier League manager’s frankly ignorant ideas about having B teams from the Prem playing in the Championship, which I might save for next weekend…

The fourth round will in all likelihood weed out even more Championship sides, with three clubs (Middlesbrough, Derby and Watford) facing Premier League opposition, leaving only Hull and Blackpool looking reasonable chances for progress to the fifth round.

Of the four sides facing replays, only Birmingham City emerged with any real credit having held Wolves to a draw in the Saturday lunchtime kick off. Millwall failed to score away from home again (this time at Dagenham & Redbridge) and despite taking the lead Brighton were held at home by Wrexham. None of the clubs with unresolved third round games have easy looking ties in the next round if they win their replays – neither Nottingham Forest or Leicester will fancy a visit from Paolo Di Canio’s Swindon, who knocked out Wigan at the Country Ground on Saturday.

Four clubs were knocked out by opposition from Leagues 1 and 2, although they can all make the excuse that they’ll be concentrating on the league. Reading – who’ve reached the quarter finals in the last two seasons – lost to Stevenage, who the Royals beat last year. West Ham lost to a late goal at Hillsborough: Sheffield Wednesday have now knocked out Championship teams out of the cup in the third round in consecutive seasons without conceding a goal. Wednesday’s victims last season – Bristol City – lost at Crawley and Doncaster lost at home to Notts County: both of those last two games could be League 1 matches next season.

At least the Championship is guaranteed a place at the Carling Cup final at Wembley at the end of February, so hopefully Crystal Palace and Cardiff can provide two games to remember. It’s only really over the last few seasons that Cardiff have reversed a long term trend of performing badly at Selhurst Park: even though the Bluebirds lost their last visit in the league (to a single goal from South African international Kagiko Dikgacoi last March), they’ve won three of their last six meetings in South London. The only other time these sides have met in this competition was in September 1969, when Palace won 3-1: the hosts went on to win seven of the next ten meetings between them.

Looking at more recent form, a couple of things stand out: Palace will have to score at least two goals to win. The Eagles haven’t done that since mid October in the league, but they’ve managed it in every round of this season’s Carling Cup including the brace that beat Manchester United in the last round. The other stat that is worth remembering is that there’s not been a draw between these two in South London since December 1984 and both Palace (at home) and Cardiff (away) have been involved in a lot of undecided games recently: Cardiff’s only other away game in the Carling Cup was a draw at Oxford United back in August and the Bluebirds only won on penalties at the Kassam Stadium.

There hasn’t really been much to report in the transfer market, although the rumour mill is grinding out the usual stories (most of which involve anyone that’s ever scored a goal in the Championship being linked with Leicester), so the only piece of news worth mentioning is that despite overseeing three consecutive league defeats, Nick Barmby has been appointed as permanent manager of Hull City.

I’ll be back on Friday afternoon with a recap of tonight’s game plus a look forward to the action at the weekend.

We’re now past the half way stage in this season’s nPower Championship and results over the Christmas break have set up what looks as if it could be an exciting conclusion to this season’s campaign.

At the top, the clear winners over Christmas were Cardiff and Reading, both of whom have clearly put their playoff misery behind them. The Bluebirds are now only two points behind Southampton and West Ham and although Reading’s festive season ended with a defeat at the Cardiff City stadium the Royals are now back in the top five for the first time since August.

The holidays couldn’t have gone any worse for Southampton and Hull. The leaders could only pick up three points from the nine available and lost their undefeated home record when a goal from Stephen Pearson gave Bristol City a surprise win at St. Mary’s and Southampton’s first home defeat in the league since losing to Brentford in December 2010. Apart from Ipswich – who I’ll be discussing in a moment – Hull were the only side not to record a win in their last three games and lost all three by a single goal. A few more poor results from the Tigers could see them slide dramatically down the table: they’ve already lost ten games this season.

However, Derby were clearly at the top of Santa’s Christmas list, having won all three of their games – an especially impressive feat as the teams they faced were fellow competitors for the playoff positions. The Rams are currently two points away from the top six and Nigel Clough’s team seem to have got over their poor form in November, when they only picked up one point.

At the bottom, Bristol City and Coventry picked up six points in three games but even that feat was something of a false dawn for the Sky Blues, who went back to the bottom of the table after losing to West Ham. They’re now three points behind Doncaster, seven points from safety and face a real battle to avoid dropping back into the third tier for the first time since 1964. Follow strugglers Nottingham Forest ended their goal drought when Marcus Tudgay opened the scoring after five minutes in their 3-1 win at Ipswich, but the Tractor Boys only picked up one point in their three games and could be sucked into a relegation battle.

Ipswich have been terrible recently – nine defeats in twelve games have seen them drop from sixth in mid October to 20th going into next week’s game at Birmingham City. The East Anglian side have conceded the most goals in the Championship so far this season (only Doncaster have a worse away defensive record) and it looks as if their form at Portman Road will be crucial over the next month: Cardiff, Middlesbrough and West Ham all have to travel to East Anglia.

For at least one weekend all the Championship clubs can put the league aside: the third round of the FA Cup takes place this weekend. Although I’ve pointed out more than once that the chances of a second tier club winning the competition are remote, it’s also worth pointing out that Championship clubs have reached the quarter finals at least in each of the last five seasons.

Blackpool, Watford, Middlesbrough, Brighton & Reading seem to have the best chances of making it to the fourth round, while Burnley, Cardiff, Leeds and Portsmouth already look as if they’re the teams that are going to be concentrating on the league for the rest of the season.

Three games involving Championship sides are being televised, starting with Birmingham v Wolves (ESPN Saturday 12:30pm) – these two were playing in the Premier League last season, but both were in the second tier when they last last met in the cup sixteen years ago. On that occasion Wolves won the replay after a draw at St. Andrew’s, which looks like it could happen again as this game looks as it if could be short of goals.

Sunday lunchtime’s game between Peterborough and Sunderland (ITV Sunday 1:30pm) is only the third meeting between these two sides at London Road in all competitions, but the Posh will be hoping to avoid a repeat of the first time they ever played Sunderland: a 7-1 defeat in the fourth round of the cup at Roker Park in 1967. That scoreline is unlikely to be repeated, but I’d not be surprised if there are goals in this one: the hosts have only failed to score in one home league game this season but have also only kept one home clean sheet in the Championship in 2011/12.

The last game of the round is also the final game on TV: Leeds drew with Arsenal at the Emirates in last year’s competition before losing the replay at Elland Road so Monday evening’s game  (ESPN Monday 7:45pm) gives the Yorkshire side a chance of revenge. Thanks to the Leeds fans it should be a good atmosphere at the Library, but there are a couple of big problems for Leeds if they want to progress: they haven’t won away since November and it looks increasingly likely that they’ll have to contend with the second coming of Thierry Henry.

I’ll be back on Tuesday with a roundup of the notable stories from the FA Cup plus a preview of the Carling Cup semi final first leg between Crystal Palace and Cardiff City and any transfer news that’s worth printing.