Coventry close in on Premier League as Ipswich overtake Millwall
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- Coventry drew 0-0 at Hull City and now need just 4 points from their final 5 games to clinch a top-two finish and end a 25-year Premier League exile, with Opta putting their promotion chances at 100%.
- Millwall led through Mihailo Ivanovic but fell 2-1 at home to Norwich after Pelle Mattsson's equaliser and Oscar Schwartau's 76th-minute winner, dropping them out of the automatic promotion spots.
- Ipswich came from behind for the first time all season to beat Birmingham 2-1 — Ben Johnson and Kasey McAteer replying to Carlos Vicente's opener — leapfrogging Millwall into second and extending their unbeaten run to eight games.
- Ipswich face a punishing run of 7 games in 22 days to close the season, though they hold two games in hand over their promotion rivals.
- Middlesbrough drew 2-2 at Swansea — Zan Vipotnik netting twice from the spot before Tommy Conway's penalty rescued a point — leaving Boro with just 2 wins in their last 10 matches and manager Kim Hellberg conceding his side 'are not being clinical enough.'
- Hull manager Sergej Jakirovic, working under a transfer embargo in his first English season, framed his side's draw with Coventry as a play-off push rather than an automatic-promotion bid, targeting the 73–75-point range.
- Per Boro boss Kim Hellberg, three clubs now sit on 72 points — Ipswich best placed with games in hand, Middlesbrough ahead of Millwall only on goal difference — setting up a tight finish to the second automatic spot.
Why it matters: Coventry are effectively up, shifting the real drama to the battle for the second automatic promotion place. With Ipswich, Middlesbrough and Millwall all on 72 points and Ipswich holding two games in hand, the club that finishes third faces the uncertainty of the Championship play-offs — and Ipswich's seven-games-in-22-days fixture pile-up is the clearest swing factor in the closing weeks.
