Championship predicted table: Middlesbrough, Coventry City and Ipswich Town's promotion hopes assessed
Middlesbrough boosted their Premier League promotion hopes with a 4-0 win at Championship rivals QPR on Sunday afternoon.
There were joyous scenes in the away end at Loftus Road as Middlesbrough took a step closer to Premier League performance by securing all three points with a dominant display at Championship rivals Queens Park Rangers.
Kim Hellberg had warned his players they should be ready for a difficult test in West London in the days before the game and they clearly heeded his warning by producing a fine performance to stroll to all three points. Morgan Whittaker got things underway when he opened the scoring on 20 minutes and that narrow advantage remained in place until midway through the second-half when on-loan Sunderland midfielder Alan Browne doubled the tally. Hayden Hackney continued his impressive form when he added a third goal moments later and Scotland striker Tommy Conway rounded off a stunning away day display from the penalty spot with just two minutes left on the clock.
The win has taken Boro to within five points of current league leaders Coventry City - but perhaps more crucially, it has opened up a four-point advantage on third placed Millwall, who claimed an impressive 3-1 win at play-off contenders Hull City on Saturday.
The race for promotion is rapidly approaching its final stages and every single game matters as Boro look to end their absence from the Premier League - but where are Hellberg’s side predicted to finish in this season’s Championship? We take a look at the latest predicted final table produced by the stats experts at Opta.
The latest Opta predicted final Championship table
Champions: Coventry City - 92.31 points Automatic promotion: Middlesbrough - 86.37 points Play-offs: Ipswich - 82.21 points, Millwall - 81.06 points, Hull City - 74.07 points, Wrexham - 72.90 points Staying in the Championship: Southampton - 70.03 points, Derby County - 67.06 points, Watford - 66.01 points, Sheffield United - 63.95 points, Birmingham City - 62.75 points, Bristol City - 62.67 points, Swansea City - 61.30 points, Preston North End - 60.83 points, Stoke City - 60.58 points, Norwich City - 60.19 points, Queens Park Rangers - 59.12 points, Charlton Athletic - 56.63 points, Portsmouth - 53.75 points, Blackburn Rovers - 49.97 points, Leicester City - 49.21 points Relegated: West Bromwich Albion - 47.93 points, Oxford United - 47.62 points, Sheffield Wednesday - 1.20 points
What did Kim Hellberg say after Middlesbrough’s win at QPR?
Speaking at his post-match press conference, the Swedish boss said: “I am delighted. It was a good performance, and a good result. Very strong. I think the way we took control of the ball and how we moved them [pleased me most]. I liked that, at a quite good pace, we moved them from side to side to open up those spaces so we could get those combinations we're very good at when we get higher up the pitch. How we defended our own goal in those situations where they were up was very, very good and impressive too. So, yeah, very good performance and four goals.”