We preview this weekend's Sky Bet Championship matches
Saturday 16th August 2014Birmingham City v Brighton and Hove Albion
The Blues: Birmingham failed to register a shot on target as they limped to a 2-0 a defeat at Middlesbrough on the opening weekend. Lee Clarke’s men recovered in midweek by battling to a 3-1 extra-time victory over Sky Bet League 2 side Cambridge United in the Capital One Cup.
The Seagulls: Sami Hyypia’s first game in charge of Brighton ended in a 1-0 home loss to Sheffield Wednesday last Saturday. They’ll be without Andrew Crofts for the trip to Birmingham after he was sent off in that fixture.
St. Andrew’s Blues: Last season was a miserable one at home for Birmingham. They won just two of their 23 league matches.
Blackpool v Blackburn Rovers
The Tangerines: Blackpool’s tumultuous summer of last-minute player recruitment spilled into their first game of the season, only naming four substitutes in a 2-0 loss at Nottingham Forest. They were then dumped out of the Capital One Cup at the hands of Sky Bet League 2 side Shrewsbury Town.
Rovers: Tom Cairney’s wonderful strike helped Blackburn to a 1-1 draw against Cardiff City in the opening game of the 2014/15 Football League season.
Summer flurry: After only having 15 registered players last Saturday, Jose Riga has continued his recruitment drive by signing Francois Zoko, Jeffrey Rentmeister and Joel Dielna.
Blackpool defender Peter Clarke and Blackburn striker Jordan Rhodes played alongside each other at Huddersfield. This weekend they’ll be on opposing teams - read more by clicking here.
Bolton Wanderers v Nottingham Forest
The Trotters: Bolton sit second-bottom after the first weekend of the season following a 3-0 loss at Watford. With two home games coming up this week, Dougie Freedman will be keen to see his side put points on the board.
Forest: Stuart Pearce has enjoyed a 100% start to life as Forest boss, without conceding. Wins over Blackpool and Tranmere Rovers has put them fifth in the Sky Bet Championship table and into the Second Round of the Capital One Cup.
Level-pegging: In 86 meetings, Bolton and Forest have both won 31 encounters, drawing 24. However, the Reds’ last victory at Bolton was back in 1991.
Bournemouth v Brentford
The Cherries: Bournemouth’s blistering start to the 2014/15 Sky Bet Championship season shows that they continue to go from strength-to-strength. A goal up inside 25 seconds, they romped to a 4-0 win over Huddersfield Town on the first day, with striker Callum Wilson named in the Sky Bet Football League Team of the Week and then beat Exeter City 2-0 in the Cup.
The Bees: Brentford’s week has been a record-equalling one. Sharing 12 goals in a 6-6 draw after extra-time with Dagenham and Redbridge, they were part of the joint-highest scoring League Cup tie in history, winning 4-2 on penalties.
New ground: This will be the first time that Bournemouth and Brentford have met in the second tier of English football.
Cardiff City v Huddersfield Town
The Bluebirds: With games against Wigan and Wolves coming up, Cardiff will know the importance of three points against managerless Huddersfield. Received a blow in midweek with the news that defender Ben Turner would be out for three months with an ankle injury.
Te Terriers: Mark Lillis remains caretaker manager of Huddersfield following the departure of Mark Robins, who left the day after their 4-0 opening-day defeat. Beat Chesterfield 5-3 in the Capital One Cup after extra-time on Tuesday night.
Poor start: Huddersfield suffered the biggest defeat of anyone across The Football League last weekend.
Charlton Athletic v Wigan Athletic
The Addicks: Manager Bob Peeters was frustrated that his side didn’t put their opening-day game at Brentford to bed – they were pegged back from 1-0 up to draw 1-1. They ran riot midweek though, beating Colchester United 4-0 in the Capital One Cup.
The Latics: Rescued a 2-2 draw at home to Reading last weekend thanks to a late James McArthur goal, but then suffered a 2-1 defeat to Sky Bet League 2 side Burton Albion in the First Round of the Capital One Cup.
Winless: Wigan have never won at Charlton, losing twice and drawing once in their three visits to The Valley.
Fulham v Millwall
The Cottagers: Need a positive result to reverse their 2-1 loss at Ipswich Town in their first season back in the Championship for 13 years. Felix Magath’s men weren’t in Capital One Cup Round 1 action during midweek.
The Lions: Ian Holloway continues to work his magic on Millwall, with a solid 2-0 win at home to Leeds United last weekend. He also turned around their away form last season; they had won just once before Holloway’s arrival, but triumphed in three of their final four on the road last season.
Strangers: These London sides haven’t met in a competitive fixture in over 15 years, since a 4-1 Fulham victory in April 1999.
Leeds United v Middlesbrough – 12:15pm – live on Sky Sports
The Whites: Leeds went down 2-0 at Millwall in their opening Sky Bet Championship game before beating Accrington Stanley in the Capital One Cup. They’ve been busy this week with the capture of striker Billy Sharp from Southampton and midfielder Liam Cooper from Chesterfield.
Boro: A 2-0 triumph over Birmingham got their campaign off to a winning start, however in 2011/12 and 2012/13 they also started well before failing to convert that form into promotion.
On form: Elias Garcia Martinez, or Kike as he likes to be known, has scored in each of his Middlesbrough appearances this season, after signing from Murcia in the summer.
Norwich City v Watford
The Canaries: Had a rest in midweek having not been involved in Round 1 of the Capital One Cup. Their defeat at Wolves on Sunday made it eight league games without a win, losing seven of those.
The Hornets: After their 3-0 success over Bolton last week, Watford have lost just two of 13 games at Vicarage Road in 2014. However, they've lost three in a row on the road in league competition.
Man to watch: Troy Deeney continues to catch the eye, scoring in Watford’s win over Bolton to make it 10 goals in his past 10 home games.
Reading v Ipswich
The Royals: Reading were held 2-2 at Wigan last Saturday and then beat Newport County 3-1 in the First Round of the Capital One Cup, thanks to goals from Pavel Pogrebnyak, Nick Blackman and debutant Craig Tanner.
The Tractor Boys: After pushing for the Play-Offs towards the end of the 2013/14 season, Ipswich’s revolution under Mick McCarthy continued by seeing off Fulham 2-1 at Portman Road in their first game this campaign.
Winning mentality: These two don’t contest many draws. Their past seven games have been won by either side, and in 51 meetings there has only been nine draws.
Rotherham United v Wolverhampton Wanderers
The Millers: Rotherham have further added to their squad by signing Paul Taylor on loan from Ipswich until January, continuing what has already been a busy summer for Steve Evans, who saw his Millers lose 1-0 in a spirited display at Derby last weekend.
Wolves: Experienced a mixed week. After beating Norwich City 1-0, they were stunned by Sky Bet League 2 side Northampton Town in the Capital One Cup, losing 3-2 at home.
Goals, goals, goals: In Sky Bet League 1 last season, Wolves and Rotherham saw 16 goals scored in their two meetings; a 3-3 draw at the New York Stadium in December was followed by a 6-4 Wolves win at Molineux in April.
Sheffield Wednesday v Derby County
The Owls: It took Wednesday 13 games to win their first league match in 2013/14 but they managed it at the first attempt this year, beating Brighton 1-0 last weekend. They followed that up with a 3-0 success over Notts County in the Cup as Stuart Gray continues to get the best out of his men.
The Rams: Squeezed past Rotherham United last Saturday, as they look to prove they can bounce back from last season’s Play-Off heartbreak. Scored the most away goals in the division last season, with 38 from 23.
Bogey side: Derby haven’t lost to the Owls in their past 12 meetings, since a 2-0 defeat in April 2006.