The stand out tie of the evening will be West Ham v Southampton, as first meets second in the Championship tonight. Saints can go top after closing the gap to just point on Saturday following their 2-0 win over Burnley. But they will be hoping that their new signing Billy Sharp can add to his tally of 11 goals this season to propel them back to the top of the table. West Ham on the other hand, will be hoping they can conjure up back to back home wins after beating Millwall 2-1 earlier in the month. It will surely be brutal encounter but with the Hammers fielding home advantage it should see them extend their lead at the top of the league.
Another stand out tie is the game between two of the playoff hopefuls, Birmingham and Hull at St Andrews. Birmingham will be hoping they can continue their unbeaten home record going however Hull will take heart from their 3-0 thrashing of relegation threatened Bristol City on Saturday. Both sides have hit great form recently so it should be a close encounter with the Blues possibly winning it by a goal or two.
4th place Cardiff take on posh at the Cardiff City Stadium and they will want to get their February back on track after losing 2 games in a row to Blackpool and Leicester. However Posh, refreshed from their break at the weekend following their game with West Ham being called for a frozen pitch will be hoping they can finally put 3 points on the board in 2012 after only gaining 2 points in 2012. The game should be an easy win for Cardiff, although there is never an easy game in the Championship but Peterborough will have a tough job on their hands if they are to challenge Cardiff.
Blackpool head to the Keepmoat hoping they can keep their automatic promotion hunt on track after it took a slight knock in a 1-1 draw with Portsmouth at Bloomfield road on Saturday. Ian Holloway will be keen to gain the win at the Keepmoat following a good start to February beating Cardiff 3-1 and drawing 1-1 with Pompey on Saturday. And Doncaster will pose not much of a threat with their prolific forward, Billy Sharp going to Saints. If Blackpool can attack like they have been doing recently then the Doncaster defense will be in for a long night, resulting in a convincing win for the Tangerines.
Brighton will be need of points to mount a playoff challenge when they welcome strugglers Millwall to the Amex tonight, they will be keen to keep their winning run at home going in which they won every home game of 2012. Millwall on the other hand are slipping away fast and will be hoping they can claw back to safety after letting a great chance to the clear the gap with the bottom 3 further after only drawing 0-0 at home to Derby on Saturday.
Middlesbrough and Forest will be in desperate need for the points but for completely different reason, Middlesbrough will need to gain their first win of 2012 after slipping away from the playoffs in January after they were secure and looking at the automatics on Boxing Day. Forest will be hoping they can pull themselves closer to safety after having a poor season under the guidance of both Steve McClaren and now Steve Cotteril. It has been an unusual season for Forest who are regularly contesting the playoff spots. But it's in no doubt it will be a fierce encounter at the Riverside tonight.
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